Federal authorities warn of scam

Federal authorities are warning of scam artists using a ploy that claims to involve U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents and officers.

This ploy recently was used to scam tens of thousands of dollars from a Troy resident.

The trick is to call upon someone and tell them they are about to be named in an arrest warrant, allowing them however to pay money to avoid prosecution.

The key to remember — real police officers or federal agents do not ask for money over the phone.

“Residents are reporting the calls are a pre-recorded message stating, ‘a box of drugs and money being shipped has your (callers) name on it and it has been intercepted,’” said Kris Grogan, a CBP public affairs officer. “The caller is then instructed to press #1 to speak with a CBP officer or agent, which then attempts to get the caller’s banking information.”

Grogan said if you receive such a call, you should:

• Note the phone number or other pertinent details

• Then immediately hang up

• Report the incident to local police or the Federal Trade Commission online.

Grogan further said that these are phishing attempts as well as scams, trying to get you to send money but also trying to get your personal information for potential identity theft.

You should never give information out, especially a Social Security number or banking information.

While metro Detroit sees a regular reporting of people victimized by such tricks, one Oakland County resident was swindled out of $140,000 with this particular scam.

Police in Troy reported that a city resident in December was called by a “Roger Miller,” who claimed to be from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency. The caller told the man there was a warrant for his arrest “due to a package being sent to Texas from Columbia that was in his name and contained drugs and money,” police in Troy.

Keeping the victim on the phone, another person joined and claimed to be from the Troy Police Department, a “Mark Hamilton.” Instructed to wire money out of his bank account, the victim first sent $72,000 to a Hong Kong bank and then another $45,000 to a bank in Thailand. The culprits kept it going, eventually pressuring the victim to buy gift cards — $20,000 worth from Best Buy and Target were purchased — and calling them with the gift card numbers.

Police in Troy at the time emphasized that no police will ask for money to be sent or for gift cards to be used towards payments.

“We are thankful for the concerned residents who have reached out to us with this information so we can inform our family, friends, and community of this criminal intent,” said Director of Field Operations Christopher Perry in a statement. “I would just like everyone to remember, if you get a call stating they are CBP and asking for money to just hang up.”