Extortion Scam Preys on IOP users

[QVC1212]

DEA Office of Diversion - Press Releases

Basically, people pretending to be DEA threaten those who purchase over the internet. Members of the forum beware! The DEA is much more likely to show up in person than they are calling on the telephone threatening, "Excuse me, yes is Ms. Whatshername there? If you don't pay me, immediately, to our offshore account, we'll bust you!"

An interesting caveat: Personal and financial information could be compromised for those who order using op's. Do your homework before ordering, don't take a chance!

[drboris]

Sounds interesting. It's similar to scams that have been pulled before, but they have usually involved people who can't fake an American accent ringing from ********! This sounds marginally more plausible.

To be honest I'm just going on your description as I couldn't actually get the DEA's site to load, which is no great surprise, it's always always down in my experience. I think it's under constant 'distributed denial of service' attack from the underworld of the internet pharmacy industry, mainly based in Russia of course. They attack this site sometimes too. I'm expecting headaches when I put up a lot of new sites in the 'blacklisted' section. It's a murky world out there!

[pysov]

I used a credit card a few years ago to order online. I would notice a couple days after I ordered that there would be a charge for .05 or .47 cents or something like that. It was apparent my cc account was being tested, I imagine to see if it was active. I was lucky to catch it before any major damage happened. This was back around 2005 but I doubt much has changed. I think it's just too risky to give out that info, maybe some places are trustworthy but I never chance it anymore.

[neviim]

Lets be honest, unless your buying large quantities of pills, the DEA's interest in you is minimal. That isn't to say you won't be set up for a controlled delivery if they happen to inspect your package at customs. But if a pharmacy gets busted and the recent order details become available to the DEA then I don't tihnk you have much to worry about.

[ybloc22]

Has anyone heard of anyone being arrested after customs finds small quantities of a controlled substance? Am I stupid to have shipments mailed directly to my house?

[evertking]

I use a remailer to be on the "safe side" if there is one! if they want you they are going to get ya! But from my experience... when... if customs finds meds in packages they just take it..what they do with it i do not know.. and will send you a nice little letter.

[Rider]

The more I read about this, the more I doubt if it is worth it.

[Action Jackson]

I ordered some valium years ago. I got a call about 3 weeks ago from someone who "claimed" to be a DEA agent. Hispanic accent and was a serious ass. Said they had confiscated my meds coming in from the Dominican Republic. Claimed they were going to arrest me immediatly if I did not cooperate. I knew this was a scam, so I played along.

He said I could either WU a fine of 1000.00 to a destination in the Dominican Republic or go to jail. Of course I asked him what DEA office he worked for and what his badge number was. He gave it and I immediatly called the DEA. Hell, I wasn't worried about me, I hadn't ordered anything in years. Well, the lady at the DEA said that some guys had gotten a list of people who had ordered meds a few years back and were working this scam. She gave me a number where I could call and leave info. I did, it was a message one, left the names given and the phone numbers they called on. DEA called me back personally a week later and thanked me for the info.

If this happens to you, realize, 1. the DEA will never ask you to wire a fine. 2. The real DEA will be courteous and patient, these guys were very rude and abusive.

[kineticode]

A friend of mine ordered research chemicals(DRUGS) from Backpage site,and money was sent to AFRICA.She was later contacted by fake drug control in Africa,and threatened to report her to DEA for smuggling drugs.If she would have sent 1,ooo dollars to them ,everything would be O.K.They must be making millions from this scam!

[Lemonhead]

I have recieved one of these calls also. My first reaction was complete fear! But when he informed me that he had my package coming from ********, I knew it wasn't true since I had not ordered anything in years. I just played very dumb and kept saying "I can't really hear you" "huh" "I have no idea what you are saying"...this went on while he was ranting at me for about 10 minutes and then he finally hung up on me and never tried again.

I hate to think that this scam actually works, but they do prey on peoples worst nightmare, so I guess that is why it does.

[PharmacyLawyer]

I'm a consumer-rights attorney, investigating extortion scams that are targeting patients who have bought medicines from online pharmacies. In hopes of gathering more information that could allow me to identify some patterns behind those responsible for the extortion, I would like to hear from anyone who is interested in sharing his/her experience.

[riverstyx]

really. what an unusual place to advertise ur services.
may i ask if u work for a .org place and work pro bono or do u actually charge for any services u may eventually offer?
r u thinking class action lines? cuz we would both know only attorneys make money on those. the plaintiffs names in a class action receive pennies usually.
just a very unusual posting to find here, my learned colleague.

[kroozer88]

Agreed. Can you answer the question counselor?

[Alternate]

This has not happened to me but have read about some people who this did alarm and were really intimidated by it.

The perps sound real authentic. They talk with an American accent and have good grammer, sound legit. And authoritative about how the person (who has ordered from an online pharmacy) has broken the law. But to avoid prosecution all that needs to be done is to send them some amount (usually around a $1,000.00 USD).

Since this did not happen to me I don't know how they would have the mailing of the extortion amount - DEA c/o WU?

Anyway, the DEA does not call ever.

But this has really rattled some people and I am sure has worked.

If someone claims to have info on you about any order and wants to discuss
this with you tell them you will report them to the authorities or give them a
lawyer's phone number - you do not have to talk to anyone over the phone
ever.

Actually, the DEA website (read a quote on another now defunct forum) had
the DEA warning people about this scam.

I just never answer my phone and have caller id - these guys do
not leave a message about this - they seem to catch the people who pick up
their phones as it rings. One person just hung up on them after telling them
to leave him/her alone. Also note - there is a computer program that allows
people to manipulate where the caller id is showing up from and they could
be somewhere else (big in banking scams).

But that is all I have noted about this scam and the details people have relayed.

For the lawyer you should call the DEA and talk to an agent - they might be able
to give you more info on this.

[Ilovemyson]

So despicable that these jerks prey off of people in pain or in need of medication. I know some folks are just recreational users, but who cares as long as they arent hurting anyone. I myself am a chronic pain patient and if the DEA calls me, I will fight every step of the way as they are making my life difficult due to lack of proper pain management. This scam makes me sick.

[JustJake]

I ordered some valium years ago. I got a call about 3 weeks ago from someone who "claimed" to be a DEA agent. Hispanic accent and was a serious ass. Said they had confiscated my meds coming in from the Dominican Republic. Claimed they were going to arrest me immediatly if I did not cooperate. I knew this was a scam, so I played along.

He said I could either WU a fine of 1000.00 to a destination in the Dominican Republic or go to jail. Of course I asked him what DEA office he worked for and what his badge number was. He gave it and I immediatly called the DEA. Hell, I wasn't worried about me, I hadn't ordered anything in years. Well, the lady at the DEA said that some guys had gotten a list of people who had ordered meds a few years back and were working this scam. She gave me a number where I could call and leave info. I did, it was a message one, left the names given and the phone numbers they called on. DEA called me back personally a week later and thanked me for the info.

If this happens to you, realize, 1. the DEA will never ask you to wire a fine. 2. The real DEA will be courteous and patient, these guys were very rude and abusive.

Best way to handle this is to "send" them the money, and give the MCTN to them. The fact you didn't send any money, and gave them a bogus number to go down to Western Union and try to collect should never be mentioned. If the call back, give them a second number that is off by one digit and apologize for the mistake. I have done this with other scammers, and the entertainment value is not to be underestimated.

Oh, and don't forget to report them to Western Union for good measure.

[Kexessa]

The DEA has nothing to say to you, either over the phone or in person until you already have your hands behind your back and are wearing pretty silver bracelets they so kindly loaned to you.

I would tell these scammers, "Ok, I'll see you when you get here!"

[Lynx4]

I think the saddest thing about all of this is that we have people in the US who are stupid/naive/whatever enough to think that the DEA needs you to send money to the Dominican Republic via Western Union. Is there no thought process going on here? No critical thinking that makes them sit back and draw a line in their mind from what the REAL DEA would do versus what a scammer would do? Blows my mind. When this first came up at DB people were freaking and some were getting ready to send money and I just thought "idiot" because, really, what else can you think? No one will say it. We are all polite and just say "It's a scam so don't send the money" when there's so much more you want to add to the end of that.

The truth is that if you use your brain, you won't get scammed most of the time. You definitely won't get scammed by this type of operation. I'm sad that scammers have gotten thousands of dollars from our weakest people. Hopefully the DEA will eventually get these guys and actually get the money for themselves (the REAL DEA) while the other guys sit in a lovely concrete room.

[SageVisitor]

The DEA has nothing to say to you, either over the phone or in person until you already have your hands behind your back and are wearing pretty silver bracelets they so kindly loaned to you.

I would tell these scammers, "Ok, I'll see you when you get here!"

Exactly. Was this thread even necessary?

[ad11]

Best way to handle this is to "send" them the money, and give the MCTN to them. The fact you didn't send any money, and gave them a bogus number to go down to Western Union and try to collect should never be mentioned. If the call back, give them a second number that is off by one digit and apologize for the mistake. I have done this with other scammers, and the entertainment value is not to be underestimated.

Oh, and don't forget to report them to Western Union for good measure.

Hehe good one. I usually leave people I have no interest in talking to my google voice number. They can call that all day long for all I care. I can sort out the people I'd like to deal with, and put the others on ignore.