Have you laundered any money recently?
You might be accused of doing so if you’re targeted by a scam that has resurfaced recently after making the rounds last year.
The scam centers on a call in which fraudsters accuse people of laundering money or committing some other illegal activity through their financial accounts. The end goal is to steal money or personal information, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center – idtheftcenter.org.
The callers claim to be Department of Homeland Security agents and use scare tactics to make their accusations.
The bogus agent reads through a list of common banks until victims confirm the one they use. Once the caller has account details, the information can be used to drain the account’s funds or “to commit an array of different identity crimes in your name,” the resource center says.
Know that DHS and other investigative agencies do not call on the phone to demand sensitive information, nor do they solicit money over the phone.
If you get such a call, hang up. You can report it to Homeland Security’s inspector general at oig.dhs.gov/hotline or by calling 1-800-323-8603.
How to fix your credit: A recent lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice is a good reminder that people looking to repair their credit can be vulnerable to rip-off schemes.
The suit accuses Texas-based Turbo Solutions Inc., doing business as Alex Miller Credit Repair, of false claims in telling consumers it can remove negative…
