Phone Scammers Falsely Claiming to be from Department of Justice

ALBANY, NEW YORK – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York is alerting the public of imposter scams involving individuals claiming to work for the Department of Justice.

During these calls, scammers appear to focus on immigration-related matters, like visa status, and at times threaten to retaliate against the person if their demands are not met. They often ask for personal information, like the person’s address or where the person is located. 

Scammers use many tactics to sound and appear credible. They typically spoof their phone numbers so that when you receive the call, it appears as if the call is coming from a number associated with a government agency, like the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office will never:

• Direct you to tell us exactly where you are at any given moment; or
• Threaten you or tell you there are “consequences” if you do not speak to us or comply with any demands.

As a reminder, the U.S. Attorney’s Office will also never demand payment of any kind, including by gift card, and it will never ask you for your credit card number. Such requests are often made by scammers.

If you have been contacted by someone claiming to be from the U.S. Attorney’s Office and would like to confirm the call is legitimate, please hang up and contact our Office’s main line at 315-448-0672. While scammers can spoof their phone numbers to appear to be calling from this number when making outgoing calls, they cannot receive calls made to this number.

If you suspect you have received one of these scam calls, you may also report the incident via the Internet Crime Complaint Center at http://www.ic3.gov/.