Unsolicited Phone
Calls, Text Messages, or Emails Purporting to be from the Treasury Office of
Inspector General, Office of Investigations, FinCEN, OFAC, the Treasury “Office
of Legal Affairs”, or even from the Secretary of The Treasury, are frauds. There are several variations of this: in one,
scammers call an individual asserting that the individual has been awarded a
grant or a similar sum of money and requests personal information or a sum of
money/gift cards (iTunes, Steam, etc) to “release” the funds. The Treasury does not have any such programs. Likewise, e-mails or messages
that seem to be from the Treasury that request information or demand a fee for
a release of funds from OFAC or FinCEN holds are entirely fake. We urge recipients of such calls or e-mails
to be extremely wary of any scheme requiring an advance payment for a later
promise of funds—these are hallmarks of scams.
COVID-19 SCAMS: Please be alert to scams involving COVID-19. Remember,
the government will rarely contact you by any means other than U.S. Mail,
including by text, call, or email, regarding any federal programs. You
may find up-to-date information about individual economic impact payments under
the CARES Act at https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/economic-impact-payments-what-you-need-to-know. Currently,
there are no federal programs for direct grants, reimbursements, or any other
type of individual financial payments other than that.
Be
aware that scammers use a number of means to try to apply pressure in a
transaction so that individuals do not have time to think about the
truthfulness or legitimacy of the swindle, including statements that various
goods or programs are of limited quantity or duration. This is a hallmark
of fraud—please slow down, and take the necessary time to think and check the
information through unconnected sources.
A
number of resources are available to identify and report fraud, including:
www.ftc.gov/coronavirus;
www.fraudsupport.org;
www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud
https://www.justice.gov/fraudtaskforce/report-fraud/chart
Fraudulent letter example
If you receive a letter from the Bureau of Fiscal Service notifying you of funds offset, you may obtain further information about this program , contact points, and helpful resources athttps://fiscal.treasury.gov/dms/contact.html and its linked pages.
A similar scam is a caller falsely representing that he is
from the Internal Revenue Service or impersonating an investigator from this
Office and demanding payment or information.
These callers have been described as threatening or abusive, and tell
victims they need to make immediate payment to forestall arrest. THESE ARE FRAUDS. PLEASE EXERCISE CAUTION IN YOUR DEALINGS WITH
ANYONE PURPORTING TO BE FROM A GOVERNMENT AGENCY AND DEMANDING MONEY OR
INFORMATION. Further information
concerning one type of these frauds is available at
http://www.irs.gov/uac/Newsroom/IRS-Repeats-Warning-about-Phone-Scams.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury), Office of
Inspector General, also investigates individuals' use of fraudulent
Treasury-related financial obligations or accounts to attempt purchases or pay
debts. Swindlers create and attempt use
fraudulent promissory notes and/or private bonds both domestically and
internationally as vehicles to defraud investors out of hundreds of millions of
dollars.
Many of these schemes are variations of a common fraud
generally known as "redemption" or "acceptance for value"
that incorrectly asserts the United States government has trust accounts linked
to each citizen. This is also a theory
linked to the ‘sovereign citizen’ movement, extremists of which are classified
as domestic terrorists. The theory is not supported in fact or law and has been
soundly rejected by the federal courts. Perpetrators will annotate or stamp
invoices with "Accept for Value" or similar language, with various
numbers purporting to be account numbers. Such annotations are without merit
and establish no rights or privileges in any federal or state account or
agency.
In a variation on this fraudulent scheme, individuals obtain
routing numbers assigned to a Treasury or Federal Reserve location, and use
these numbers to make the false notes appear genuine.
At times, these fraudsters hold seminars throughout the
United States or on YouTube, teaching attendees how to create these fictitious
documents and how to use federal routing numbers. Be advised that Treasury bureaus and the
Treasury Direct Program do NOT hold checking accounts for private individuals,
and they will NOT honor any of these checks. Participating in these scams can
result in serious criminal and civil penalties.
It is also a violation of Federal Law to misuse the Treasury
seal or the words, titles, symbols, or emblems of the Treasury Department, or
any service, bureau, office or Treasury subdivision; see 31 U.S.C. 333.
Click the links below for specific information on sample
fraudulent schemes and documents that falsely use name of Treasury bureaus
and/or officials. These and similar documents are NOT valid negotiable
financial instruments and recipients should NOT accept them or attempt to use
them.
NEW FRAUD ALERTS
A
scam promising victims sums of money for prior contract or fraud losses is
using the names of Treasury officials and a California attorney, Brian D.
Jacobs. Be advised that this is a particularly insidious scam using the
name of a licensed attorney as well as Treasury officials, and that the
scammers have often done research on the victims to be able to provide
documents that add verisimilitude to their scam. This is a type of advance fee
scheme that has targeted people both in the United States and Canada.
Scams Claiming to be from the Treasury Inspector General
Learn about scams using the Treasury Inspector Genereal's name.
How Marketable Treasury Securities Work
Learn about the types of securities, how they are sold, and how book-entry securities are held.
Scams Involving Treasury Securities
Find out more about the renting, leasing, or blocking of Treasury securities.
Examples of Known Phony Securities
See example of phony securities and learn more about the scams.
Historical Bond Fraud
Learn about the many scams involving historical bonds.
Prime Bank Instrument Fraud
Find out about the different types of fraud, and important buzzwords and red flags to watch for. Also, get links for investigative help.
How to Protect Yourself from Investment Scams
Useful tips that will help protect you from scams.
Other Fraud Sites of Interest
Links to resources that will help you protect yourself from fraud.
Prohibition Against Misuse of Treasury Names, Terms, Symbols, Stationary, Etc.
See examples of illegal solicitous mailings made to appear like official federal government communication.
Bogus Sight Drafts/Bills of Exchange Drawn on the Treasury
Warnings issued by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency; examples of fraudulent drafts.
Computer
Cop software
Neither the Treasury nor the Treasury Executive Office for Asset Forfeiture endorses this or any other particular product and the use of equitable sharing funds does not in any way imply such an endorsement. A letter purporting to be from the Treasury Executive Office for Asset Forfeiture [link] is not genuine.
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