The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is warning citizens about scammers impersonating DEA Special Agents. Two types of scams have recently come to light.
The first is when a scammer calls a victim, who often have previously purchased prescription drugs over the internet or by telephone. The scammers identify themselves as from the DEA then informs the victim that purchasing drugs over the internet or by telephone is illegal. They claim that DEA will take enforcement action unless the victim pays a fine. They usually want payment via a wire transfer to a designated location, usually overseas. Refusals to pay are met with threats of arrest.
The DEA does warn the public about ordering controlled substances online. The only way that online ordering is legal is when very stringent requirements are met by the selling pharmacy. Also, Pharmacies that sell controlled substances over the internet must be registered with the DEA. The risk of ordering online from an unknown source is receiving unsafe, counterfeit or ineffective drugs from criminals. Also, your personal and financial information could be put at risk.
The DEA reminds everyone that they will not give you a call and demand payment. If someone does call claiming to be from the DEA, hang up.
A similar scam takes a different tact in that the DEA impersonator claims to be helping you. A Tacoma woman reported to KIRO TV that she received a phone call and several voicemails claiming that there had been fraudulent activity involving her Social Security number.
When she called the number, she talked to someone who claimed to be with the DEA, even giving a name and a badge number, and who said that the Social Security number had been used in drug trafficking in Texas.
These scammers took their time with the Tacoma woman, asking her about friends or family in Texas, anyone who she might have given her Social Security number to, and had she been to Texas among other questions. The scammers kept her on the phone for 5 hours.
The scammers wanted her to withdraw the funds in her bank accounts then send them to the imposter DEA agents via Google Play gift cards at which point they would send back a “government-certified check” with “clean money” that she could put back into her bank accounts. When she said that she was not buying gift cards to send to them (she had heard that scammers use gift cards to steal from people), the scammers reassured her that they were trying to protect her.
Long time scam and fraud observers say that scammers try to get their victims under the “ether,” in an emotional state where they are not thinking logically. As the Tacoma woman put it to KIRO, “But when you’re locked into the fear and confusion together, everything looks blurry.”
While many people would see through these impersonators, scammers can convince enough people to send money to make their criminal activities worthwhile. Scammers continue to find new twists and techniques to catch the average person off guard. Being aware of these changes helps you to stay alert.
Drug Enforcement Administration:
https://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/pubs/pressreleases/extortion_scam.htm
If you receive a phone call from someone claiming to be from the DEA, the DEA would like to know. You can report it at,
https://apps.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/esor/spring/main?execution=e1s1
KIRO TV:
https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/dea-warns-of-a-new-intricate-phone-scam-targeting-seattle-tacoma-area/931255061
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