FTC Scam

Impostors pretending to be the Federal Trade Commission

You heard that right. Individuals are defrauding individuals using the very government institution that investigates these kinds of crimes (at least one of the government branches). Talk about having nerve. In a post she wrote just before the new year, Monica Vaca, the Associate Director of the Consumer Response and Operations Department at the FTC told us everything we need to know about this scam.

“Activities will be under review”

According to Mrs. Vaca’s post, a gentleman from Pennsylvania brought this suspicious looking “FTC” letter to the bank. His concerns were in fact verified and he was not in fact under any sort of review. The letter which we have not seen a copy of stated that the gentleman’s online activities as well as his financial activities have cause concern at the FTC and he is “under suspicion of money aundering and terrorism.” Talk about a a scary letter to get in the mail!

Only the beginning of the Scam

Mrs. Vaca goes on in here post to state that this type of scam is often followed with “urgent phone calls” demanding that money is sent to the scammer. This is a trend that can be found in many similar types of scams where emails precede phone calls. If you’ve received a letter like this from the FTC or something similar let us know right away. And make sure that you report it to the Federal Trade Commission website here.