The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Office of Inspector General (OIG) published a Fraud Alert regarding fraudsters purporting to be SEC officials.

Recently an individual purporting to be an SEC Investigative Officer attempted to get personally identifiable and financial information from a victim via telephone and email. The fraudster(s) backstopped the initial contact by providing fraudulent credentials and contact information for a fake US District Court Clerk who later claimed to have verified the bona fides of the fake SEC investigator.

There has been an increase in impersonation scams where victims receive communications, including phone calls, voicemails, text messages, messages via social media, emails, letters, or certificates, purporting to be from the SEC or the SEC OIG.

Scammers purporting to be from the SEC or SEC OIG might use the SEC or SEC OIG’s seal, logo, or purport to be SEC employees to make their demand for funds appear to look legitimate. The SEC or SEC OIG will NOT send unsolicited communications asking for sensitive personal information or demanding payment through gift cards, wire transfers, digital currency, or any other means.

Reporting

The NJCCIC encourages recipients who discover signs of malicious cyber activity to contact the NJCCIC via the cyber incident report form at www.cyber.nj.gov/report.