DEA warns of scammers

DETROIT – The Drug Enforcement Administration is warning of a widespread fraud scheme in which telephone scammers impersonate DEA agents in an attempt to extort money or steal personal identifiable information.

DEA will never phone demanding money or asking for personal information.

There are variations in the false narrative: e.g. the target’s name was used to rent a vehicle which was stopped at the border and contained a large quantity of drugs. The caller then has the target verify their social security number or tells the target their bank account has been compromised. In some cases, the caller threatens the target with arrest for the fictional drug seizure and instructs the person, over the phone, to send money via gift card or wire transfer to pay a “fine” or to assist with the investigation or with resetting the bank account.

Schemers have spoofed legitimate DEA phone numbers to convince their target the call is legitimate, or texted photos of what appears to be a legitimate law enforcement credential with a photo. The tactics continually change but often share many of the same characteristics. Callers use fake names and badge numbers as well as names of well-known DEA officials or police officers in local departments. Additionally, they may:

• use an urgent and aggressive tone, refusing to speak to or leave a message with anyone other than their targeted victim;

• threaten arrest, prosecution, imprisonment, and, in the case of medical practitioners and pharmacists, revocation of their DEA registration;

• demand thousands of dollars via wire transfer or in the form of untraceable gift card numbers the victim is told to provide over the phone;

• ask for personal information, such as social security number or date of birth;

• reference National Provider Identifier numbers and/or state license numbers when calling a medical practitioner. They also may claim that patients are making accusations against that practitioner.

Anyone receiving such a call should report the incident to the FBI at www.ic3.gov. The Federal Trade Commission provides recovery steps, shares information with more than 3,000 law enforcement agencies and takes reports at reportfraud.ftc.gov.