Between 08/23/2014 and 08/25/2014, the victims received several voice mails from a man identifying himself as an agent for the “US Department of Treasury.” In the voice mail , the man ordered the victims to contact him regarding a pending trial against them for federal criminal charges. The victims were not fooled by the voice mail and called the police instead.
Had the victims contacted the suspect, they most likely would have been told that they needed to provide a payment over the telephone in order to avoid an immediate arrest. They would have been ordered to purchase a prepaid card (such as a “GreenDot Card”) and to provide the code on the back of the card to the suspect. Using that code, the suspect would then electronically obtain the money from the card.
Other variations of this scam include:
– The victim being told their relative (usually a grandson) has been arrested
– The victim being told their relative has been in an accident
– The victim being told they owe money to the IRS, PG&E or other utilities