TELEPHONE SCAM WARNING – IF YOU GET A CALL FROM DWP OR IRS HANG UP. PERIOD!
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WARNING: TELEPHONE SCAM CALLS FROM DWP OR IRS OR DEPT. OF SOCIAL SECURITY.
You can read more but you do not have to! If you get a phone call from the DWP, SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION or the IRS HANG UP. JUST HANG UP!
DO NOT GIVE CREDIT CARD INFORMATION OVER THE PHONE TO THE IRS OR DWP! Several people in the community have reported very threatening phone calls from people “claiming” to be with the IRS or the DWP. THESE CALLS ARE A SCAM! These calls sound very real and the people calling you may even have some very accurate personal information. They will threaten that the police are going to come to arrest you and seize your property. They may threaten you that your electricity and or water will be turned off.
IT SEEMS SO REAL
Often they will leave a number and tell you to call back. The automated voice sounds real IT IS NOT. NEVER EVER PAY DWP OVER THE PHONE IT IS A SCAM. DWP WILL NOT THREATEN OR TURN OFF YOUR WATER.
In some cases, the person on the phone will tell you to immediately go and buy “green dot cards” for balances overdue, in order to keep them from having their power shut-off immediately or that they will be arrested.
The IRS and the DWP do not call people and make threats and they DO NOT DEMAND MONEY OVER THE PHONE!
These calls are NOT targeting the Jewish Community but they are a real problem that Hillygram would like to warn about.
One of the latest auto calls are messages from the Office of Social Security. These at first sound very authoritative and real. The voice
sounds like an official person that does not have an Indian accent. If you listen carefully to the wording you will hear strange use of wording.
The call threatens arrest if you do NOT call the number they give you. AGAIN DO NOT CALL BACK. Social Security will NEVER call you.
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A community member received a SCAM call from the DWP today 5/13 and let us know about it. Below is the email explaining what they experienced.
I received a very official call from “LADWP” this morning stating that my water and power was going to be turned off in one hour. I called the LADWP number they gave me and it is answered with the identical LADWP answering system as when anyone calls LADWP. I asked for extension 107 and he told me that my last payment had not been paid and that I had one hour to pay it or my water and power were being turned off. I looked on my bank account and told him that the money had been withdrawn from my account. He kept insisting that I have to pay over $1000.00 immediately, I had to go to a service center to pay the bill in that the DWP offices were closed. I am not easy to scam and I kept telling him that the bank indicated the money was deposited. He kept stressing they did not have it and my water and power were being shut off. When I told him I wanted to speak to a Supervisor he put me on hold and I called the DWP on another line. They clearly indicated that it was a scam. No one will have water and power turned off now. My account was up to date. |
