I think it's safe to say that when scammers are pretending to be the FTC or the people you report your scams to, then you know they've certainly upped their game.

Scammers are now contacting your phone, thus trying to trick you into thinking that they are from the Federal Trade Commission. Well, they're not. Obviously. But maybe not.

What makes this so devious is whenever we receive a phone scam, in general, one of the agencies we're encouraged to call is the FTC.

What's happening is that folks are receiving calls from a number that begins with 877. The number is 877-382-4357, which seems to be the FTC's Consumer Response Center's phone number.

According to the FTC Report, if you have submitted a report to them, you may receive a callback but it won't be from the phone number 877-382-4357.

A few of the things that the scammers will ask you about when they call is what is your social security number and/ or bank account information.

Just know, that the FTC will never ask for your social security number or your bank account information. These are tale-tell signs that these are scammers trying to get your information.

What should you do if you receive a call from the scammers?

  • Should you get a phone call from these guys, or what looks like a fishy government phone number, hang up. If you want to verify the phone number, you may visit the FTC's site here.
  • Never give out any personal information to someone you don't know or an agency that you are not currently doing business with.
  • If you are feeling pressured to respond to them immediately, hang up. It's a scam.

Please let friends and family know about this as it seems more and more businesses, scammers and other agencies have access to our phone numbers. You can never be too careful.

When in doubt, always, always, check it out. 

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