So a couple of days ago my cell phone went off. I looked to see who was calling, but there was no caller ID other than the phone number. That number was 202-648-9999, which I recognized as a District of Columbia area code, so I rejected the call. Then a day later I saw that the number had called again. This time a pre-recorded voice mail was left. Here's the transcription that my VVM phone provided:
"This is an important message from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. A Federal Firearms Licensee in Orange County CA has experienced a burglary that resulted in the theft of firearms. Please ensure the security of both your inventory and property, and report all suspicious persons or activity to your local police department. Additionally notify ATF at 800-800-3855 if you find any of your firearms missing, lost or stolen. Thank You. Goodbye."
The last three words were spoken in a strong female voice that sounded like a real person. The message was in a faint, poorly modulated female voice that sounded robotic.
The incomplete caller ID, the detail-free content of the message, and the shallowness of the advice are all hallmarks of phishing scams. But checking in data bases of scam callers, I find that for years there have been calls from this number, and many of the recipients assert an ATF connection. That seems to indicate this could be a legitimate (if fundamentally useless) call. It is true but possibly irrelevant that the 648 prefix is associated with a lot of BTF phone numbers; modern robodial scammers can spoof any phone number they want to.
I don't know what to think of that odd double-800 number that I was asked to call if any firearms were missing. That is NOT the current ATF stolen firearm number. It's the number the ATF website asks agricultural jobbers to call if a suspicious person tries to buy nitrate products.
Has anyone else ever had a call like this? If it's a scam, I don't see how the scam would work because I wasn't asked to call some third party to discuss something. If it is not a scam, why is ATF dialing around and leaving messages so non-specific as to be useless?
"This is an important message from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. A Federal Firearms Licensee in Orange County CA has experienced a burglary that resulted in the theft of firearms. Please ensure the security of both your inventory and property, and report all suspicious persons or activity to your local police department. Additionally notify ATF at 800-800-3855 if you find any of your firearms missing, lost or stolen. Thank You. Goodbye."
The last three words were spoken in a strong female voice that sounded like a real person. The message was in a faint, poorly modulated female voice that sounded robotic.
The incomplete caller ID, the detail-free content of the message, and the shallowness of the advice are all hallmarks of phishing scams. But checking in data bases of scam callers, I find that for years there have been calls from this number, and many of the recipients assert an ATF connection. That seems to indicate this could be a legitimate (if fundamentally useless) call. It is true but possibly irrelevant that the 648 prefix is associated with a lot of BTF phone numbers; modern robodial scammers can spoof any phone number they want to.
I don't know what to think of that odd double-800 number that I was asked to call if any firearms were missing. That is NOT the current ATF stolen firearm number. It's the number the ATF website asks agricultural jobbers to call if a suspicious person tries to buy nitrate products.
Has anyone else ever had a call like this? If it's a scam, I don't see how the scam would work because I wasn't asked to call some third party to discuss something. If it is not a scam, why is ATF dialing around and leaving messages so non-specific as to be useless?
