Government Imposter Scams

In  the article linked below, the Better Business Bureau is warning of government imposter scams. In these scams, a malicious actor will call or even message the victim claiming to be from a government agency. Their goals are usually to steal the victim’s personal and financial information, to steal the victim’s  money or or to persuade the victim to install malware. 

According to the article, most Americans have encountered this scam before. Research done by the Better Business Bureau found that the Social Security Administration, Service Canada, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Canada Revenue Agency are among the most impersonated.

Some examples of Social Security-related impersonation scams:

• Increase a benefit: In this scam the malicious actor will claim that the victim is eligible for increased benefits, typically due to a cost of living increase. The malicious actor will request bank account details so that the money can be deposited into the victim’s account. Once the malicious actor has the banking information they are able to steal money from the account.

• Restoring Social Security Number: Some malicious actors will claim the victim's Social Security Number has been suspended. The malicious actor will ask the victim to pay for it to be restored. They may also ask for the victim's Social Security account information, which allows them to apply for benefits under the victims name.

• Social Security Number used in a crime, in this scam the malicious actor will threaten arrest if the victim does not respond immediately.
  
  

When the IRS is used as a cover instead of the Social Security Agency the scams vary, though they have many similarities to the Social Security scams.  For instance,  the malicious actor may claim to be an IRS agent and threaten the victim with arrest for unpaid taxes or even fraud. 

The only way to avoid being arrested, the victim is told,  is by paying a fine (or the unpaid taxes) immediately.  Victims are told to buy gift cards and to provide the caller with the number on the back of each card. But of course these threats are fake, and these are just scammers trying to use fear to get the victims money or information. 

Just as with phishing scams, the malicious actors follow the headlines and change their scams with thet latest news. During the Covid-19 pandemic and after the passage of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, scammers started to claim to be from the CDC or the United States Treasury Department in order to manipulate and steal personal and financial information from victims.

Some examples of Covid-19 related impersonation scams are: 

• Relief benefits: Malicious actors claiming to be from the IRS and offering to expedite benefits under the CARES Act.

• Fake donations: Malicious actors claiming to be from the CDC requesting donations. Email and text messages making these claims may arrive with malware or URLs that could cause harm to the victim's device.

• Contact tracing scams: Email, texts, or messages on social media claiming to be from contact tracers informing the victim that they have come in contact with someone who has tested positive for Covid-19. These scammers seek personal information and/or send messages that may contain malware. For official information on contact tracing efforts in Maryland please visit https://coronavirus.maryland.gov/pages/contact-tracing.

Scammers have also threatened arrest for missing jury duty, impersonated immigration officials threatening to deport the victim, and offered free money in the form of government grants.

Some red flags to watch for to see if the person claiming to be from a government agency is actually a malicious actor:

• The IRS generally first contacts people by the postal mail. Never provide your bank account or other personal information to anyone who calls you.

• Don’t pay by gift cards. The IRS and other government agencies will not idemand or even accept payment using iTunes cards, gift cards, prepaid debit cards, money order, bitcoin or cash.

• The IRS will never request personal or financial information by email, text, or any social media platform. Do not click on any links in unsolicited emails or text messages.

• Social Security numbers are never “suspended”.

• Caller ID cannot be trusted to confirm that the source is from a government agency. Look up the phone number for the agency and call to see if they are really trying to contact you.

• The Social Security Administration will never threaten to arrest you because of an identity theft problem. 

If you do receive any email that you suspect is a scam, please do not click on any URL or reply. Either of those actions confirms to the sender that your email address is valid. Please forward the message (with the email headers) to security@umbc.edu.

How do I forward full email headers?

https://wiki.umbc.edu/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=1867970

For more information, please check out: 

https://www.bbb.org/article/news-releases/22775-government-impostors-study

To read more articles published by DOIT visit: 

https://itsecurity.umbc.edu/critical/?tag=notice. 

https://itsecurity.umbc.edu/home/covid-19-news/?tag=covid19