202-407-7252

DANGER! Scammer! Con artists!   Do not answer these calls. They started out saying I was calling the US Department of Justice.  They will tell you you have won a lottery or sweepstakes.  They will ask you to send money via Western Union in advance to get your winnings.  If you send it, you will never see any winnings or your money you sent.   They have been known to get enough personal information to be able to call the phone company to get your phone number changed so they get exclusive access to you.  They will tell you not to communicate about your activities with your family members and friends.  They have posed as a local sheriff or police deparment.  

People have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars to these con artists.

Received a call from this number.  They said they were with the Department of Justice and asked if I had received any letters in the mail from Publisher's Clearing House saying that I won their sweepstakes.  I told him no and he asked me if I had entered into a sweepstakes offer at the grocery store or something.  I said no.  He then said he would enter this information into their computers and call me back.

Received a call from 202-407-7252, from a man name Christopher, I could not understand his last name but it sounded like Allens. He left a message saying that he was from the Department of Justice here in Washington DC.  He than said "recieved a notification from US customs of New York to read you a package," and said some others words which I could not understand, and than said, "from a sender name of sender was Sweepstake clearance house company."  He wanted me to call him back, but I did not feel good about his message, so I looked up his number and found all these scam messages. Anyone that can not speak english or speak correctly does not work for the Justice Department AND THE PHONE NUMBER IS A MOBILE PHONE!!! DANGER! Scammer! Con artists!  Do not answer these calls.  Would really like to know how they get our numbers and where do we go to report them, this has to be illegal especially with using the government as their contact.

Rec'd call requesting $1,125.00 for release of a package for insurance, registration, shipping & handling cost. Christopher Adams, William Burton indicated that I need to go thru Western Union making payment out to Jeyner Bryan Gibson from San Jose, Costa Rica in order for my check to be released to me. When I look up their phone numbers (202) 407-7252, (516) 394-4372 & (718) 690-9758 for a Norman Armstrong from (supposedly) US Customs, the internet indicates these phone numbers are fraudulent & scammers. They gave me the address of: Sweepstakes Clearing House/101 Winners Circle/Port Washington, NY/1100. I would like for better bureau investigations to check into this for me & call me back.

Got a call from phillip mercal saying that I was the 2nd place winner in the publisher clearing house, asked why they didnt call me, said that I would have to register to get the 875,000 award, cant fool me bay, dont fall for it you guys, a real dept like that would say your call is being recorded

Thanks, just got a call from them but didn't give any info. Got the call back number so I could look them up. Said I have a package at JFK airport and won't deliver unless I call them. Yeah right!

just received a call advising package @ JFK....no info given...

I also received a phone call from a man, stating his name as Phillip Merkle with the Department of Justice.  Like all of you, I also won a sweepstake!  However, I reported this information to the FBI, Federal Trade Commission, as well as the real Phillip Merkle.  They are aware of the scam and are working hard to locate these monsters.  I first assumed that this was a pre-paid phone, but seeing that some of you have been reporting this since February I'm starting to think it's not, making it easier to find out who this number is registered to.  I did find that the number is registered to Verizon (Cellco Partnership).  My next step is to call them and see how much information I can get pertaining to this number.  It is so disgusting that there are individuals out there feeding on society in a recession.  Hope they catch these idiots soon!

Marilyn,

I received a call from this number as well.  The con-artist used the name Phillip Merkle from the Dept. of Justice.  I looked the name up, and sure enough I found the REAL Phillip Merkle and contacted his office regarding this matter.  If you can, report this to the Federal Trade Commission at 1-888-382-4357.

My mother received a call from this number saying they needed $872.52 for a package that was delivered to Tampa airport, and they needed that money to release the package. Thankfully mother knew this had to be a scam. Howmany people get taken by this. If this is so  public, why doesnt the department of Justice or the SEC get involoved and shut down and arrest these people?  I don't get it.

Just received a call today, from Christopher Adams today's date is July 10th 20012.  Seems like the same story as everyone else.  Hope these jerks get caught soon!

Samething happened to me. They called me twice, the first time a person with a strange accent told me the history of the package with my name on it an the sweepstakes that some body described in this blog. I told him that I had not participated in any sweepstake and he told me he would investigate and call me back. Two days later, they called me back but I could not take the call so I called back. A male answered "hello" and that was my first clue. I asked where I was calling to and he answered ""mmm department of justice" i told him I was returning their call and he started asking me personal cuestions like "what country are you from? Because you have a lovely accent" and then he asked me if I was a legal or ilegal immigrant. I refuse to answer and he started to speak sweeter saying that he is colombian and that he understands spanish, but since I refuse to answer his questions he started to get desperate. At the end he told me that since I did not want to coperate with justice, he will send me to court and that I would be arrested because I did something bad.

I just received a call from the Department of Justice say I won a grand prize. They want me to send $1000 so claim the prize.

I talked to a person named Christopher Adams and also a John Perry who said he was an officer of the Justice Department.

A man called me from 202-470-3801.  He left a voice mmessage for me.  He asked to speak to Rhonda.   He gave his name as Robert Smith and he was from the Dept. of Justice in Washington. He asked me to call him back at the above number and to have a great day.

My name is Edith from DC, and I needed to call her back at this number 302-407-7252. And consider this as my first attempt.