When it comes to the government, there's no shortage of paperwork. From filing your taxes to filling out your social security and even getting a passport, we're all used to corresponding with Uncle Sam one way or another. But scammers are sending out letters and emails posing as government agencies.
Timm Baldwin got one of those letters. He says, "I got this and the first thing I thought was, this looks very official." But Baldwin quickly realized the letter was anything but official. It's actually from a loan company, but they used put the U.S. Housing and Urban Development seal front and center in hopes a little help from the feds would get his business. Baldwin says, "I have to imagine the reason they're doing it, the reason they're using these seals and this kind of verbiage is because it's working for somebody."
The Better Business Bureau and other agencies say it's working for a lot of scammers, with many of them trying to get your money or your personal information borrow government terms and titles to make their ploys seem more legit. Angie Barnett with the BBB says, "All of this leans towards the credibility, making you think at first glance this is an authentic government document, therefore I should believe the information that's included in it."
But Barnett says many of these letters are make believe, with the crooks creating agencies out of thin air in an attempt to scam you. One example sent to the BBB looks like an official tax form. The letter says it’s from the “Office of Financial Services and Administration”, but that doesn't even exist. It’s really just a grant scam that asks you to send money to get money and it's designed to fleece people for $20, one letter at a time. Barnett says, "If you've got to pay an upfront fee for pretty much anything, that's a good warning sign for you."
As for Baldwin, the warning sign was the handwritten address he saw on the envelope. That made him take a closer look at the scam letter he received and he says he'll be checking his future mail with a more critical eye as well. Baldwin says, "I hate that I just can't junk it anymore. I feel like this is a backdoor way to get them to pay attention to what they're doing." But paying attention may be the only way to keep these scammers from breaking into your life through the mailbox.
