Jacksonville, FL — The FBI Jacksonville Division is issuing a scam warning, after several people in North Florida were targeted.
The FBI says one of the scams targeting a Florida resident involved the scammers first posing as a sweepstakes company and claiming that the individual had won a sizeable prize. But in order to claim the prize, the individual needed to hand over personal information. At this point, we’re told the individual refused.
Later, the FBI says scammers called back, but this time they claimed to be with the FBI.
“She actually received a call from someone who said they were working for the FBI and conducting an investigation into the sweepstakes company and asking her for personal information and to be helpful in the investigation moving forward. So, of course, for a moment she actually thought, ‘yes, I can help catch these bad guys,’ and almost provided that information, but realized that that wasn’t going to be a good idea,” says FBI PAO Amanda Videll.
When she declined, the FBI says the caller became aggressive.
“The problem with these types of scams and the reason they work is that these scammers are targeting people who want to do good,” says Videll.
There are other varieties of this scam. The FBI warns another scam involves someone posing as the FBI and claiming that they’re investigating a confiscated shipment of illegal materials and that they need your personal information.
The FBI says the best way to help track these scammers down is to report the calls. You can do at the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at www.IC3.gov. If you also suffered a financial loss or identity theft, you may also want to file a report with local law enforcement and with the Federal Trade Commission at https://www.identitytheft.gov/.
Cox Media Group
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