Scam alert: Beware callers impersonating the DEA

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Member Alert

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has shared that registrants have been receiving fraudulent telephone calls and emails from con artists claiming to represent the DEA or other law enforcement agencies. The callers have masked their telephone number on caller ID by showing the DEA Registration Support 800 number.

According to a press release issued by the DEA, “The impersonators inform their victims that purchasing drugs over the internet or by telephone is illegal, and that enforcement action will be taken against them unless they pay a fine… If victims refuse to send money, the impersonators often threaten to arrest them or search their property.”

These phone calls are not coming from the DEA. It is a common tactic used by scammers to impersonate a familiar or trusted company or organization to convince you to share personal information. Authorized DEA employees would not contact registrants and demand money or threaten to suspend registrants' DEA registrations, the administration said. Please do not share any information with these callers and remember to stay vigilant in safeguarding all your private and financial information, such as bank accounts and Social Security numbers.

The DEA asks that, if you receive a telephone call from someone impersonating a DEA agent or other law enforcement official seeking money, you not act on their demands and report the threat using the administration’s Extortion Scam Online Reporting form.

For more information about the scam, you can reach out to the DEA field office in your area or contact the DEA Registration Service Center at 1-800-882-9539 or DEA [dot] Registration [dot] Helpatusdoj [dot] gov (DEA[dot]Registration[dot]Help[at]usdoj[dot]gov).

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