The U.S. Customs and Border Protection is warning of a new phone scam trying to get money from residents throughout the country.
The CBP says they're receiving complaints of people posing as U.S. Border Patrol Agents and U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in a pre-recorded phone message.
According to the CBP website, the message tells recipients that “a box of drugs and money being shipped has your (callers) name on it and it has been intercepted” and they're then told to press #1 to speak with an official.
It's then that the CBP says the scammers try to get banking information from those on the phone.
The agency says they do not ask for money over the phone and urge anyone who receives these phishing scam calls to not provide any information to the caller.
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Christopher Perry, Director of Field Operations for the Detroit CBP office, said in a release, "We are thankful for the concerned residents who have reached out to us with this information so we can inform our family, friends, and community of this criminal intent. I would just like everyone to remember, if you get a call stating they are CBP and asking for money to just hang up.”
Phone scams can be reported to the Federal Trade Commission on their website, reportfraud.ftc.gov.
Recently, the FBI also put out a warning of so-called romance scams, where the scammer attempts to use a perceived personal relationship to gain access to financial assets.