Warning: phone scam targeting TDCJ Employees

  


Backgate via TDCJ-OIG

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) is warning agency staff to be aware of a phone scam whose targets have included TDCJ offices, inundating them with calls from an unknown source.

The caller is male, speaks with a foreign accent and represents himself as either an attorney or collection agency representative. He indicates that the staff member has an overdue debt and requests the staff member to pay the debt immediately or face legal action. In some cases, when staff refused the demand, the caller cursed them or became belligerent and continued to make calls to the staff members to the point of harassment. In extreme instances the calls come not only to the staff members' work number, but to their home and cell phone numbers as well.

These calls usually originate from an area code within the United States, however, caller identification technology may be circumvented and does not necessarily indicate the actual phone from which the calls are being made.

Do not fall victim to this ploy. If you receive a one of these calls:

• Do not be intimidated or engage in conversation
• Record the date and time the call was received and the phone number displayed on caller ID
• Terminate the call by hanging up the phone
• Record your observations about the caller and details of what they said
• Report the phone call by e-mail to: OIG.PhoneReport@tdcj.state.tx.us