DECATUR - The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) is warning residents that the Bureau's main phone line number has been compromised as part of a telephone number spoofing.
GBI spokesperson Nelly Miles said in a release Tuesday that the GBI has been dealing with the spoof for a month.
"About a month ago, we had a number of phone calls reported back to us where the caller was claiming to be someone from the GBI, and the number that was actually showing up on the caller ID was our main line," she explained.
Spoofing is when the caller ID appears to be coming from a different number that the actual number calling. In this case, the person receiving the call will see 404-244-2600 as the ID, but it is not a call from the GBI office.
Miles said the caller has often called home and cell phones stating that they are with the GBI collecting a debt with the IRS or collecting a debt for college and that there would be a warrant out for their arrest if they didn’t pay the fine.
"In many of the calls, they're asking for specific information, trying to obtain information about...debt collections as it relates to money and monies that are owed," she said.
Miles said the GBI does not contact individuals for debt collection and the calls are a scam. Miles warns not to give out any credit card or other information to someone who calls and makes these claims.
Added Miles: "The main point that we wanted to get across is that the GBI does not contact individuals in this manner. It's definitely a scam."
The GBI is investigating the phony calls.
GBI spokesperson Nelly Miles said in a release Tuesday that the GBI has been dealing with the spoof for a month.
"About a month ago, we had a number of phone calls reported back to us where the caller was claiming to be someone from the GBI, and the number that was actually showing up on the caller ID was our main line," she explained.
Spoofing is when the caller ID appears to be coming from a different number that the actual number calling. In this case, the person receiving the call will see 404-244-2600 as the ID, but it is not a call from the GBI office.
Miles said the caller has often called home and cell phones stating that they are with the GBI collecting a debt with the IRS or collecting a debt for college and that there would be a warrant out for their arrest if they didn’t pay the fine.
"In many of the calls, they're asking for specific information, trying to obtain information about...debt collections as it relates to money and monies that are owed," she said.
Miles said the GBI does not contact individuals for debt collection and the calls are a scam. Miles warns not to give out any credit card or other information to someone who calls and makes these claims.
Added Miles: "The main point that we wanted to get across is that the GBI does not contact individuals in this manner. It's definitely a scam."
The GBI is investigating the phony calls.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2015/10/345547/gbi-says-phone-number-spoofed-in-recent-phone-scam