WESLACO – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General is issuing an alert to warn citizens of reports that the DHS OIG Hotline telephone number (1-800-323-8603) was recently part of a telephone spoofing scheme targeting individuals throughout the country.

The perpetrators represent themselves as employees with U.S. Immigration and can alter caller ID systems to make it appear the call is coming from the DHS OIG number.

The people demand to obtain or verify personally identifiable information from their victims through various tactics, including telling individuals they are victims of identity theft.

Many of the alleged callers reportedly have pronounced accents.

DHS OIG is reminding citizens they never use its Hotline number to make outgoing calls. People shouldn’t answer calls from 1-800-323-8603 and shouldn’t give out personal information during calls seeming to be from the DHS OIG Hotline.

Citizens can still report fraud, abuse or mismanagement by calling the DHS OIG Hotline.

Anyone who believes they may have been a victim of this telephone spoofing is urged to call the Hotline or file a complaint online via www.oig.dhs.gov.

People may also contact the Federal Trade Commission to file a complaint and/or report identity theft.