Con-artists impersonate federal agents to get cash VANCOUVER -- Debra Crouse nearly hit the ceiling when a voicemail message shared the great news that she had just won a big sum of money.
"I'd won second in a big sweepstakes out of Las Vegas totalling $450,000," recalled Crouse.
What seemed even more convincing to her was that the message on her voicemail was supposedly from an officer of the Federal Trade Commission, the agency charged with protecting consumers across the country.
The voicemail recording said, "My name is officer Robert Smith, calling from the Federal Trade Commission here in Washington D.C., could you please call us at 202-552-4759 about collecting your winnings?"
When Crouse returned the call, "a secretary answered saying it was the FTC and transferred me to officer Smith… He explained that since it was such a large sum of money I would have to first buy insurance to protect the two-day transfer of money. Mr. Smith told me to call Prudential Insurance and then gave me the name of Mr. James Price at 202-552-4753."
Crouse said when she dialed the number for Price, she got a receptionist stating it was Prudential Insurance and they forwarded the call to him.
"Mr. Price told me I had to pay 1% of the total sweepstakes payoff to cover the bonded insurance required by the Federal Trade Commission to send the winnings," said Crouse. "But he told me the F.T.C. had received a grant to pay half of that 1%, so my cost would only be $2,500. He went on to tell me to go to Western Union and I'd also have to pay $150 to cover the cost to wire the money," she recalled.
Crouse said the insurance guy went on to tell her that protecting her and her money was what this was all about. "Mr. Price told me I must not tell anyone about winning the money and if the high school employees working at Western Union ask me if I know the person I'm sending the money to, just tell them that you do," said Crouse.
FTC spokesperson Claudia Farell said, "nothing makes us angrier than using our good name to deceive consumers. There is no Robert Smith that works here but in the past these con-artists have even used real names of people who work here. They're able to use Internet technology to disguise the area code as to where they're calling from."
The FTC does not have the authority to make criminal charges but in the past few years it's turned in dozens of people working around the world, posing as FTC agents, to the Department of Justice.
DOJ has successfully tried nearly fifty people getting money sent to prison for years in this exact scam, Farrell explained.
As of Tuesday night, the con artists representing themselves as FTC officials were still calling Crouse to make sure she gets to Western Union to wire them the cash. But Crouse said to KGW, "A Brinks truck is going to come up tomorrow, according to the last phone call, and deliver me a check… Since I'm not sending them any money, do you want to come back and watch it not happen?"
