Greer has been labeled an "extreme hot spot" by the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Inspector General for a high number of individuals reporting that they received calls from scammers claiming to be from the Department of the Treasury.
“We are getting reports through email that Greer has become an extreme ‘hot spot’ for these scammers,” said Patrick Parsons from the Office of Inspector General
Parsons said at least a dozen reports have been filed in a short time.
“Over the past week, a number of hot-spots popped up in North Carolina and now in South Carolina (Greer, Greenville, Charleston, Augusta, Myrtle Beach),” Parsons stated.
“These scammers often state that they are from the ‘Department of Legal Affairs,’ offer grant money in exchange for wiring a small payment, or threaten to arrest individuals within a short period of time unless payment is made.”
In an attempt to add legitimacy to their crime, these callers might also provide a fake badge/employee number, claim that formal documents have been mailed in the past, or transfer calls to supervisors that are also involved in the scam.
Technology also allows these scammers to spoof telephone numbers so that calls appear to be coming from the Washington, D.C., area or to even display as a government agency on caller IDs.
Individuals should not provide personal information or payment to these callers and are advised to hang up the phone and block further calls if possible.
Individuals contacted by suspicious calls to the Department of the Treasury should report it to here with a description of the communication and the date, time, and time zone that the call was received.
Calls claimed to be related to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or taxes, should be reported to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) here or call 1-800-366-4484.