Attempted fraud by telephone is very common these days and becoming worse. Scammers threaten people with lawsuits, liens, and even arrest if they don’t pay up on some imaginary unpaid debt. Unfortunately, scamming is highly successful, and therefore criminals have become relentless. They are also very adept at using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) to camouflage the numbers they are actually calling from, making it look as if they are located somewhere they are not. They may even leave a callback number with a real US area code, but when you dial that number you are unwittingly being routed to a boiler room somewhere that is likely not even located anywhere near the identifiable area code.

I sincerely wish there was more we could do from our end, but although scammers are giving you numbers to call in the 206 area code, it is likely they are not located anywhere near here. If you or someone you know ever falls victim to one of these scams, please contact your local law enforcement agency to report it, as crimes are determined to have been committed where the crime takes place. This means if you were defrauded, and you live in Florida, the crime is determined to have taken place in Florida. Your local law enforcement agency contact other agencies during the course of their investigation if they feel it is warranted.

Here is an article about how scammers use VoIP to stay hidden in the shadows; http://www.pcworld.com/article/126373/article.html, another about the IRS scam; http://www.pindropsecurity.com/irs-phone-scam-live-call_analysis/, and here is where you should report attempted fraud of any kind https://www.stopfraud.gov/report.html

Stay safe,
BIPD