ST. PAUL – Scammers are using readily available technology to impersonate law enforcement officers. Now, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Minnesota Department of Public Safety Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) are notifying the public about a scam affecting Minnesota residents.
Scammers are exploiting phone number spoofing technology to make calls while posing as FBI and BCA agents. By manipulating the caller ID to match the official numbers of these law enforcement agencies, the scammers have successfully deceived unsuspecting targets. The scammers pretend they are conducting an investigation and have collected sensitive details such as Social Security numbers, banking information, and residential addresses.
It is important to note that real agents investigating legitimate cases may contact residents. To determine whether the caller is legitimate, Minnesotans are advised to ask for a callback number and then reach out to the agency's official general information line.
“A legitimate BCA agent will encourage you to call the main phone number and confirm their identity. If the person who called doesn't want you to do that, hang up the phone. It's a scammer," BCA Superintendent Drew Evans said.
If you or someone you know has fallen victim to this scam, help is available. Additional information about recognizing and reporting scams is available on the Internet Crime Compliant Center (IC3) website at ic3.gov.
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