Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says fraudsters are using his name, signature and official seal to try to steal people’s personal information.
Juan Figueroa/TNS
Ken Paxton says scammers are using his name, signature and seal to try to rip you off
Published: Wed, 12/13/23
Ken Paxton says scammers are using his name, signature and seal to try to rip you off
The Texas attorney general issued a ‘consumer alert’ advising Texans that email fraudsters are impersonating him to try to steal their personal information.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says fraudsters are using his name, signature and official seal to try to steal people’s personal information.
Juan Figueroa/TNS
San Antonio Express-News
By Marc Duvoisin,Staff writer
Texas’ top lawman has issued a consumer fraud advisory of a rather personal nature.
Attorney General Ken Paxton announced that fraudsters are using his name, signature and official seal to try to steal people’s personal information.
The AG said scammers are sending emails under his name that claim to be from the Social Security Board (the real McCoy is the Social Security Administration). The emails say your Social Security account is about to be suspended because you’ve been charged with drug trafficking, money laundering, theft, tax evasion or other serious crimes.
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The messages direct people to call a toll-free number, where the scammers try to elicit confidential information to empty the victim’s bank account.
“If you have received a similar letter or email, DO NOT CALL the number or provide any information,” Paxton said in a news release.
He urged anyone who receives such an email or other communication to call the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division at 800-621-0508 or file an online complaint here.
Texas state Attorney General Ken Paxton makes a statement at his office, May 26, 2023, in Austin, Texas. The Texas Supreme Court on Friday, Dec. 8, put on hold a judge's ruling that approved an abortion for a pregnant woman whose fetus has a fatal diagnosis, throwing into limbo an unprecedented challenge to one of the most restrictive bans in the U.S.?
Eric Gay/AP
Pretending to be from a law enforcement agency is an old scammer’s trick. Earlier this year, authorities warned that fraudsters were calling from ersatz city of San Antonio phone numbers and pretending to be police officers. After some small talk, the scammers would tell callers they were under investigation by the San Antonio Police Department and needed to wire money to a certain account immediately to make it all go away.
Also this year, phone scammers impersonated Bexar County sheriff’s deputies and demanded payment of “fines.” The giveaway was that they mispronounced Bexar — as BECKS-ar.
Scammers are active during the holiday season. Watch for these four signs that a caller is putting one over on you, courtesy of the Federal Trade Commission:
- They claim to be from a government organization or other institution familiar to you.
- They tell you you’re in trouble with the government or you owe money.
- They pressure you to take action right away.
- They instruct you to pay in a very particular way, such as wiring money or loading it onto a gift card.
Go here to report a scam to the FTC.