You, like me, may have been the recipient of many, many, many calls from various persons claiming to be from the IRS and threatening you with imprisonment. We all know that the IRS doesn’t make those types of calls and we ignore them. Apparently, some of those folks have now shifted agencies claiming to represent the SEC. This could be a little trickier.
The SEC has posted a warning that persons falsely asserting that they are SEC officials have been calling employees at public companies requesting return calls, threatening SEC action against the company or seeking potentially sensitive or personal information. The announcement advises that recipients of these false communications can verify the identities of SEC officials or staff members by contacting them directly at the SEC through the SEC’s personnel locator at (202) 551-6000 (if they don’t already know the number independently), or alternatively, calling the SEC at (800) SEC-0330 (800-732-0330) for general information. The SEC advises recipients of these false communications to please contact the SEC’s Office of Inspector General at 1-877-442-0854 or http://www.sec.gov/oig.
