"202" AREA CODE FRAUD AND SCAM CALLS

Hey, Chris . . . very cool alert!

I'm doing my own data collection, because of a call I received claiming to be the Department of Treasury a couple days ago.  I've already collected three separate lists [probably with overlap, but unpaid I'm not willing to put THAT much time into this] of 202 numbers.  I will soon be filing a report with the FTC [that's the agency that handles phone fraud], but if you know or suspect that an Internet transaction led to the phone call you can also file an "advisory" report with the FBI -- be sure to say so in your narrative to avoid perjury.  I'll add your lists to my report to the FTC.

Besides the countries Chris listed as offshore originations, I've pinned down Korea, Viet Nam, and Peru.

Some operators are threatening murder and framing people for drug smuggling if they refuse to cooperate and Western Union fees, so be careful.  The FBI says this is a common modus operandi.  [The threats.]

Someone should find a way to make numbers spoof free. Once numbers are spoof free, scammers will have to call with a legit number.

Homes and businesses should put their numbers into a system that makes it impossible to spoof, but the question is, how will it be implemented?

Making numbers spoof free isn't ever going to happen.  And even if it could, it wouldn't be foolproof with all the dozens of different telephone companies out there these days all of whom would have to make it a default on their settings.  AND some people get their telephone service these days not through a telephone company, even, but  through their cable or Internet service provider.  Add to that some people are also getting the calls on cell phones, and you've got another whole set of suppliers who would need to be involved.

Some people receiving calls who themselves have Voice over Internet Protocol services on their phones have a set up that does automatically crack the code, though.  A few people on the many sites like this have reported having their phones with settings that automatically detects and de-codes the spoofing, so people with those types of services DO see the real origination point of the calls.  Reports from people such as those is how I've been able to collect my list of countries of origin.  Oh, yeah.  Thailand was another one, just by the way.

So, the spoofing can be defeated on an individual basis, but like anything of this nature, you have to be pro-active on it.

Hmmmmmm  . . . .


There's a headline over to the right on my computer screen that wasn't there the last time I visited this page.  I wonder if some . . . .. errrrrr . . . . development?  has lately occurred?   The FTC has apparently put a reward program in place for some kind of "illegal" calls.   Don't know if it's these or something more general.  I must read that news bulletin.

Here is the headline, should anyone else wish to look it up on Google:


"FTC Crowdsources Technical Assault On Illegal Calls, Puts Up $50K Bounty"

had one from 202.800.5534.blocked that bad boy :)

These calls from overseas didn't come out of the blue. Cracking down on rogue boiler room enablers from our side is a good start, and the fight will go on. Most of these calls are coming from countries where call centers and sadly boiler rooms are setup disguised as call centers. Thailand is one, if I am not wrong Philippines is another refuge for phone frauds. Like you said above, they might be coming out of China as well since people are getting calls from Chinese accented frauds. If you notice people's complaints here, most of the complaints are directed towards South Asian frauds. The rest are South East Asian, African etc. We don't get calls so many of these calls from European countries or Islands that lack boiler rooms cause they have better things to do than try to rip off Americans, Canadians, British, Australians or any other English speaking countries.

Fraudulent calls with spanish/jamaican accents are certainly the Central American, the Caribbean and South American. What these people have in common is they try to or already rip off people in English speaking countries and steal their Dollar, Sterling Pound, etc. The reason why they are still in business is because gullible people trust them and send them money.

Don't forget India, which seems to have a number of boiler rooms with scammers trying to steal money from hard-working Americans.  The Microsoft technical support scam seems to originate from India.

There are enough boiler rooms in India disguised as legit call centers. With cheap VOIP lines they can turn their own homes into boiler rooms. If you get a call that has a lot of noise in the background, its certainly a boiler room.

Just got a call from 202-827-0750. First left a message to call "Amanda" back. When I called, she said she needed to transfer me to a mediator. The young lady got on the phone and low and behold her name was Amanda as well.  She proceeded to tell me I had an unpaid account with a payday loan service.  They had ALLLLL my info. Seriously. I was shaking and almost crying because it seemed so real. She said she can put in a "stop action" because she researched my history and had never found that I had been prosecuted for anything in the past.  I just kept thinking...WTH? So she said, let me call the prosecutor to see if I can get them to accept this stop action, if not, they will have patrol cars dispatched to your residence and place of business for your immediate arrest in 2 hours! I was realllly scared then. So I asked, why are you calling me from a 202 # if I am being prosecuted in NC? She said because her office was hired to locate me. Soooo, me being scared and thinking this was some how legit if they had all my info, I asked how much to rectify. She didn't have an amount ready and put me on hold. She came back and said the prosecutor agreed to drop the attorneys fees and I owed $588. I kept thinking, this does not sound right. So I said, how can I make the payment. She told me she would have to contact the prosecutor to get payment info and she was waiting on a fax. FINALLY, my investigative head clicked on. (I'm a Criminal Justice major). I said ok, well let me make a call about the money and I will call you back with payment info. So I called back and asked to speak with Amanda. Mind you, I called the same #, the same chic that left the message answered and she transferred me to the OTHER Amanda. Never even asked my name. So I said...Amanda, before my husband will allow me to send these funds, please email or fax me some documentation advising everything you just said. She then says she cannot send me any further documentation because I was already sent letters to the previous address I had listed. I was like, THE HELL. I cannot send you any money until you send me something in writing.  She said well let me put you on hold and let me see what I can do.  They emailed me some bogus letter from Michael Goldstein.  My name is misspelled twice, two different ways. And the office number listed is 404-855-3332x115. Now really, I might be slow, but I ain't stupid! GOTCHA!

When the boiler room morons get caught, they get their little feelings hurt, and thats when they'll pretend to be a nice guy/gal only to be cornered once again. Looks like their warranty is running out and they are getting desperate.

...but the thing is, if you try to scam me, I don't care if you get your feelings hurt when I let you know your worth as a human being.

And I am not alone here...

Who cares about the feelings of some scammer. They deserve to be treated like crap for treating others like crap. If they don't have any feelings, bad feelings should be injected into them.

add 202-558-0345 Scam!!!!

We need to add 202-666-7770 to the list of scam offers.