A new telephone-calling scam is using the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Service to target residents in many states, including Minnesota, to obtain banking information.

Many people have received the unsolicited calls from scammers posing as CBP agents and officers. They are receiving a pre-recorded message stating that a parcel of drugs and money has been shipped with the call recipient’s name on the package and it has been intercepted. The call is then instructed to press “1” to speak with the CBP – at which time the scammer attempts to get the caller’s banking information. Minnesota has been cited by CBP as one of the primary calling areas.

If you get such a call, it often is ghosted with a caller ID that registers the call as coming from CBP’s Minnesota office, which makes it seem more legitimate. You should never give any information because CBP, the Department of Homeland Security and almost all other government entities don’t solicit money or ask for such information over the phone.

Scam calls can be reported to Federal Trade Commission here: https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/assistant