Law enforcement authorities are warning Bucks Countians to be on alert after a scammer spoofed the official phone number of the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office.
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The scam came to light this week when a resident received a phone call with a caller ID displaying a phone number belonging to the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office, authorities said.
The resident did not answer the phone, but the caller left a voicemail message referencing Medicare benefits, according to the Bucks County Detectives.
Finding the activity suspicious, the resident did not engage with the caller and instead immediately notified law enforcement, authorities said.
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Detectives confirmed the call did not originate from the district attorney’s office and are using the incident to highlight “spoofing” scams, a tactic where fraudsters mimic legitimate government or official phone numbers to deceive the public.
Law enforcement officials reminded the public that government and law enforcement agencies will never contact residents unsolicited to request personal Medicare information, Social Security numbers, or financial details over the phone.
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The district attorney’s office advises anyone who receives a suspicious phone call regarding their benefits to hang up immediately and contact the relevant agency directly through a verified telephone number.
Tips on spoofed calls from the Federal Communications Commission:
You may not be able to tell right away if an incoming call is spoofed. Be extremely careful about responding to any request for personal identifying information.
• Don’t answer calls from unknown numbers. If you answer such a call, hang up immediately.
• If you answer the phone and the caller – or a recording – asks you to hit a button to stop getting the calls, you should just hang up. Scammers often use this trick to identify potential targets.
• Do not respond to any questions, especially those that can be answered with “Yes” or “No.”
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• Never give out personal information such as account numbers, Social Security numbers, mother’s maiden names, passwords or other identifying information in response to unexpected calls or if you are at all suspicious.
• If you get an inquiry from someone who says they represent a company or a government agency, hang up and call the phone number on your account statement, in the phone book, or on the company’s or government agency’s website to verify the authenticity of the request. You will usually get a written statement in the mail before you get a phone call from a legitimate source, particularly if the caller is asking for a payment.
• Use caution if you are being pressured for information immediately.
• If you have a voice mail account with your phone service, be sure to set a password for it. Some voicemail services are preset to allow access if you call in from your own phone number. A hacker could spoof your home phone number and gain access to your voice mail if you do not set a password.
• Talk to your phone company about call blocking tools and check into apps that you can download to your mobile device. The FCC allows phone companies to block robocalls by default based on reasonable analytics. More information about robocall blocking is available at fcc.gov/robocalls.
Remember to check your voicemail periodically to make sure you aren’t missing important calls and to clear out any spam calls that might fill your voicemail box to capacity.
