Scammers are posing as FBI, Minnesota BCA agents: What you need to know

Hennepin Co. deputies warn about scammers calling residents pretending to be officers

The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office is warning residents about phone calls from individuals pretending to be police demanding money. Tonight, a reminder from authorities: "Cops don't call for cash."

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Federal and state authorities are warning Minnesotans of scammers who are impersonating law enforcement.

In a press release on Monday, the FBI and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said scammers are exploiting phone number spoofing technology to make calls posing as FBI and BCA agents. Scammers have manipulated the caller ID to match the phone numbers of law enforcement and have deceived their targets.

"The scammers pretend they are conducting an investigation and have collected sensitive details such as Social Security numbers, banking information, and residential addresses," the press release said.

Legitimate FBI and BCA agents may contact people as they investigate actual cases. So to determine whether the person calling you is who they say they are, Minnesotans are advised to ask for a callback number and then reach out to the agency's general information line. Those phone numbers are:

FBI: 763-569-8000
BCA: 651-793-7000

"A legitimate BCA agent will encourage you to call the main phone number and confirm their identity. If the person who called doesn’t want you to do that, hang up the phone. It’s a scammer," BCA Superintendent Drew Evans said.

Anyone who has fallen victim to this scam can find information via the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).

Expert tips to avoid social engineering scams

Sal Sparace of Red Team Security shares tips to avoid social engineering scams. He says, "In social engineering, the human element is considered the weakest factor." He describes social engineering as essentially hacking people’s behavior either through email, voice or in-person physically.