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Phone Scam: Did you receive a Robo-call with a recording saying This call is from the Department of U.S. Treasury

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Have You Received a Scam Phone Call?
from 510-214-0567, claiming "This call is from the Department of U.S. Treasury"

Did you receive a call from 510-214-0567, with a robotic voice saying:

This call is from the Department of U.S. Treasury. This message is intended to contact you regarding an enforcement action executed by the U.S. Treasury. Ignoring this message would be an intentional second attempt to avoid an initial appearance before the magistrate judge or grand jury for a federal criminal offense. The number to reach us, 510-214-0567, I repeat, 510-214-0567. We'd like you to cooperate with us and help us to help you. Thank you.

This is a scam!

 It is a scam. If you call them back, they will pressure you, threaten you with legal action and say anything it takes to get you to pay them or give them other information they can sell, like your social security number.

Do not fall for it.  The U.S. Treasury Department would NEVER call you like this!

Examples: Report received, May 21, 2018:

They called around 4 pm; and a recording with a robotic, male voice said: This call is from the Department of U.S. Treasury. This message is intended to contact you regarding an enforcement action executed by the U.S. Treasury. Ignoring this message would be an intentional second attempt to avoid an initial appearance before the magistrate judge or grand jury for a federal criminal offense. The number to reach us, 510-214-0567, I repeat, 510-214-0567. We'd like you to cooperate with us and help us to help you. Thank you.

You can hear a recording of this scam here: (the recording will download and then you can open it and play it - it is just a recording)

Click here to listen to a recording of the "Department of U.S. Treasury" Scam Call

 

Information About 510-214-0567, claiming This call is from the Department of U.S. Treasury

The U.S. Treasury is well aware of the scammers, but is apparently having a hard time locating them and shutting them down, Like cockroaches, they are numerous, persistent, multiply quickly and hide well. Many of the calls come from overseas and are difficult for US law enforcement to prosecute. And the "Do Not Call" list doesn't help, either, since criminals aren't going to obey it, are they?

Here is what the Treasury Department says:

Report Phone and Email Scams: There are numerous telephone and email scams in which individuals claim to be employees of the Treasury Department. These scammers often state that they are from the "Department of Legal Affairs," offer grant money in exchange for you wiring a small payment, or threaten to arrest you within a short period of time unless payment is made. Do not provide personal information or payment to these individuals. Their actions are crimes under Titles 18 and 31 of the United States Code.

What to do about it

1. Report the scammers:

Report the call to OIGCounsel@oig.treas.gov.

Give them the following information:

1.  The exact date and time that you received the call (s)
2.  The phone number of the caller
3.  The geographic location and time zone where you received the call
4.  A description of the communication.

2. Avoid other scam calls

What can you do to stop these calls?  Generally, it is helpful to avoid answering any calls you do not recognize, so you have time to consider and research any demands that might have been left on voicemail. There are now free phone apps that help to interecpt calls that are know to be coming from scammers.  One that we have found to be very effective is TrueCaller. It displays any known information about callers as the calls come in, and alerts you about calls coming from numbers that others have reported to be scams.

There are a number of common telephone scams, such as:

• Collect Call scams
• Inmate collect call scams
• Phone service is about to be cut off
• Telemarketers

3. Know your Rights

See these pages for guidance as applicable to your specific situation:

• If you are certain you don't owe a debt: What to do about harassing phone calls
• If you may owe a debt: Debt collection phone calls - what they may do, what the may not do and how to stop them
• If you are being harassed by the collector: file a compliant against a debt collector with the FTC - Use this form to submit a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Bureau of Consumer Protection about a particular company or organization..
• How to stop telemarketers

 

For a comprehensive list of national and international agencies to report scams, see this page.