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Fake FTC Sweepstakes Scam Operation Busted by VerifyPhone.com

By Carolyn J Dawson
TMCnet Contributor

VerifyPhone.com, an online public directory with specialized service, has announced that the recent spate of callers posing as FTC (News - Alert) employees has been exposed. An increase of phone scammers impersonating Federal Trade Commission employees has been brought to the notice of FTC and VerifyPhone.com and the company has issued warnings to the general public to be aware of the scams. VerifyPhone.com provides its users access to all the information that they require.

VerifyPhone.com has helped the FTC to identify the con artist who have been making calls to the American public and informing them that they have won lotteries or sweepstakes. The way the operation works is that scammers contact the consumers, and then guide them to the process of claiming their prize money by stating that they need to wire the money or send a cheque to pay the taxes and the insurance amount associated with the winning sum. Some of the fraudsters even pose as sweepstakes officials and try to include FTC name somewhere in order to convince the consumer that it is a genuine sweepstake and FTC approved. Sometimes they get even a step ahead and use numbers from the FTC office or even a Washington, DC area code so that they can be more convincing.

VerifyPhone.com was able to confirm that the callers were indeed fake owing to the fact that the FTC would never call to solicit the public to send money. VerifyPhone.com has issued a warning to the public asking them to be careful with such calls and not to divulge their personal or financial information unless they are 100% sure of the caller.VerifyPhone.com has come up with certain facts and precautions that people need to be aware of before they fall victims to such scams, including, not to pay the money immediately as genuine sweepstakes or lotteries don’t require payment for insurance, taxes, or shipping and handling charges upfront in order to collect a prize; imposters generally try to use known brands or government agency or business names in order to entice the consumers, which is illegal; avoid “too good” sounding offers as they are fakes and nothing that great can never be for free, there will be a catch somewhere; ask for a contact number or address, most of the imposters hang up if they think they might be caught, in case they do provide a phone number or address its likely to turn out to be phoney; consumers can use VerifyPhone.com to cross reference the number; and file a formal complaint with the FTC immediately.