The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is warning federal retirees about a new phone scam.
An imposter claiming to be an OPM employee is calling federal retirees and saying that a magistrate will prosecute them, their retirement payments are being cut off and they must make an immediate payment.
The scammers are very convincing, warns OPM. They may use real names and titles and may know a lot about their targets, including personally-identifiable information. The scammers may alter the caller ID to make it look like OPM is calling and may also attempt to use email to “phish” for more information. The imposters may leave an “urgent” callback request, but don’t fall for it.
Here are some signs of a scam:
1. Call to demand immediate payment.
2. Demand that you pay a debt first before any appeal.
3. Request that you pay using gift cards, prepaid debit or credit cards, wire transfers or PayPal.
4. Request for credit or debit card numbers over the phone or by email.
5. Threaten referral to a magistrate, the police or law enforcement.
If you get a call you suspect is a scam, hang up, note the date and time of the call and the caller’s phone number, and report it to OPM’s Office of the Inspector General.