Hopefully, that will give you time to think about it' and not rush to satisfy the caller's demand for payment.Īndy Mao, the DOJ's elder justice initiative coordinator, noted that 'federal agencies, like the Social Security Administration, Internal Revenue Service, or FBI, will never request payment through a gift card.' The official said people when they get such calls should 'take a breath. 'Government agencies are scary,' the official noted. 'It's a very vulnerable position to be put in, and it's very effective.'Ī common trick is to claim to be a federal entity, such as the IRS. ''You need to resolve this now, or some sort of horrible thing is going to happen,'' the official said, giving an example of how scammers pressure their targets. 'They create this false sense of urgency,' said the DOJ official. The caller claims to be the representative of a government agency, utility or private company that insists on immediate payment. Gift card scams routinely involve callers, often from overseas, phoning victims and telling them they owe money for a debt or needed services and that they should immediately go to a retail location to buy a gift card that can be used to pay off the purported obligation. Personal Loans for 670 Credit Score or Lower Personal Loans for 580 Credit Score or Lower Best Debt Consolidation Loans for Bad Credit

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