Around November of 2008, a new scam was uncovered by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The scam involved impersonation by the scammer as a FDA official. The scam works like this – the victim gets a call asking if he is interested in buying drugs online without prescription. Once the order is placed, the victim is asked to wire transfer the money to Dominic Republic.
Even after weeks, the victim does not get any clue about the drugs ordered. Then, the victim gets a call from the scammer impersonating as FDA official. The “official†tells the victim that the FDA has unraveled the victim’s attempt to buy drugs illegally and since this a serious offense, he/she may be liable to legal actions. After a few arguments, the victim is told by the “official†that legal action can be avoided if the victim doles out a few dollars. The caller asks the victim to wire transfer the money to locations in Dominic Republic.
FDA officials feel that the calls could have been made from places other than U.S. and the callers might have used VoIP to hide their locations. Only the public can prevent the scam by realizing that no FDA official will call a customer over phone and demand money.
(Via Fraud and Scam News)
