Town Of Babylon Warns Residents Of Telephone Scam

Press release from the Town of Babylon:

February 1 2021

The Town of Babylon would like to warn residents about a telephone scam that has been circulating recently. Individuals have reported receiving calls from a person fraudulently claiming to be from the town with a phone number that looks like a legitimate town number. In these calls, individuals are told that they are under investigation or facing a lawsuit and are asked to provide sensitive information such as their social security number.

The Town of Babylon WILL NEVER call you without notice to ask for such information and does not conduct such business over the telephone. If you receive a call like this, DO NOT provide any information and hang up immediately. The longer the scammer has you on the phone, the more time the scammer has to provide false proof that they are who they claim.

Other characteristics of telephone scams such as this one may include:

• Scammers use fake names and badge numbers to identify themselves.
• Scammers may know the last four digits of your Social Security number.
• Scammers spoof caller ID to make the phone number appear as if the town or another local government agency is calling.
• Scammers may send fake emails to victims to support their scam calls.
• Victims hear background noise of other calls to mimic a call site.
• After threatening victims with jail time, license revocation or other penalty, scammers hang up. Others soon call back pretending to be from local law enforcement agencies and with a caller ID number that looks to be authentic but is not.

If you have received such a call, you can report it to the FTC by calling 1-877-382-4357 or by visiting https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/.

This press release was produced by the Town Of Babylon. The views expressed are the author's own.