Possible scam??
 

Today we got an "official" looking letter from Access Central Mail Center in Ocala. It was a notice of case action, State of FL Department of Children and Families. This was saying an application had been made and denied. Right away we're thinking it's a scam and I don't want to call their number. It was after hours but I sent in a complaint both to the state attorney's office as well as Senior Against Crime. Have any of you folks also received such a letter? I'm just trying to cross my "t's" and dot my "i's" on this issue.

******I just wanted to report it....so I did e-mail Seniors Against Crime as well as sent one to the state. The offices there (either place) aren't open yet. No, we don't have grandkids or children who have lived with us. I suspect this is a scam so wouldn't contact that number. I get weary of ALL the scammers out there. Didn't seem to hit us til we moved to Florida. BUT in reading social media posts from where we used to live---bad things there have ramped up too. I suppose because we're a "senior community" they feel we're fair game.

Depends on which phone number it is. If it's 850-300-4323, it's the legit number for the Florida Department of Children and Families. If it's 800-962-2873, that's the Florida Abuse Hotline, and legit (if the letter is about abuse).

You can check out the other phone numbers and contact information here:

Contact Us - Florida Department of Children and Families

Unfortunately, Florida is somewhat backward and uses a .com address for their website instead of a .gov like the rest of the civilized world. So it seems like it might be a fake website. But this is their actual website, I've referred to it before.

I would call and look for more info but definitely do not provide info to them until you know it is legitimate.

I wouldn't ever call a phone number on a piece of mail from a group/organization that I wasn't expecting to receive. I'd go to the group's website, and call the number I see there.

Calling a phone number from random unexpected mail that you don't even know why you got it, that states you have a denied claim? That's a HUGE red flag. And that is exactly how people end up parted from their money.

I got an interesting phishing email the other day. It was from a purported charity organization thanking me for my donation. They said to click on the html link to view my receipt. Hah!

I would do a reverse number lookup by Googling it.

I would use the internet or phonebook to get the number for this agency and then call that number and ask what is going on.

Did you place an application with this department? If not, then probably a scam.
Like others have said, DO NOT give out any info to them over the phone...
:ohdear::ohdear::bigbow:

Have you had or do you currently have children/grandchildren living with you or do they live in Florida in another residence?

Why would that agency be contacting you? We're you expecting them to? If not, I would ignore it.

Simple, if you didn’t do anything with that agency to begin with just toss it in the trash. Lots of scams are out there.

Always check postage on letters received. If sent “Standard Mail” it is junk. I don’t even open it. Right into the chipper.

Just throw it away. If you didn’t initiate a request, it’s obviously a scam.

Well, you just lost about 30 min of your life on nonsense. Obviously, a scam. There is a million red flags there. Throw it away. No one is going to investigate one complaint on one scam out of 9 million out there and theres no victim so therefore no crime. No one was scammed money, no one was anything. You got junk mail. Thats it. Scams have been occurring since the 1900s if not earlier.

This might be a case of identity theft. You might want to call the legitimate number and check to see if anyone has made a claim using your information. Something similar happened to my daughter in RI.

"Possible" scam? lol I don't think there's any question on that. Because of the number of friends who have had their e-mail hacked lately, I am reluctant to click on even their attachments. If it looks weird ('need to use your Amazon account' is one that's going around), I'll call/e-mail them separately - to see if they actually sent it.

If it walks like a duck, flies like a duck, and quacks...

We get a lot of that type of stuff. Just a couple of days ago we got something from some "Water Quality Commission" or some such official-looking document stating that because of recent high rains and runoff problems, we need to have the quality of our water checked. It gave us a number to call to set up an appointment.

Shredded.

The letter should come from Tallahassee. Get the number from the Fl state website

Ohiobuckeye
 

You know maybe I’m not looking at it in the right way but If I know I didn’t request it or know I didn’t contact them , I don’t do anything, their notice goes into file 13. I’ve never ever had any issues. If it a bill or anything you owe or something you bought you would know. It’s a scammers World now. If you disregard the letter they’ll usually leave you alone. Don’t know why people get so worked up about these advertisements or things they know they didn’t request!

Ninety-five percent of my law practice deals with Children's Services cases. While I'm in Ohio (two years until we will be in TV for the winters), I can't believe that the process would be very different. This is a scam.

First, there would be no need to contact you unless you have a relative, most likely a grandchild, who needs to be placed outside of their home. CS always tries to place with a relative before putting a child in foster care.

If your children/grandchildren live in Florida, you could have the children placed with you. If they do not live in Florida, then Florida CS would need to work with you for an ICPC, but you would have talked to the original CS caseworker and know about the situation. You don't get an e-mail out of the blue

Chances are, if all of this were going on, your child/grandchild would have told you about it. CS would have asked for your phone number...

because the first choice to contact a family member is by phone. My guess is your child knows your phone number and would have given it to the caseworker. E-mail is not used, except as a last resort. Besides, how would they have gotten your e-mail address but not your phone number?

I could go on, but you get the picture. This is a scam. However, it's a good excuse to call your child/ren and tease them about the kind of parents they must be.


Don't call the number the e-mail gave. It will put you on another list for these scammers to sell as someone who has responded to an e-mail, so you will get even more scams in your inbox.

Scammers have been calling my office phone and leaving messages for my husband, saying that a claim has been filed against him. I'm so tempted to call them back as his attorney, but why put my number on their radar as someone who answers their phone calls?

Hope this helps.

Deleted.

No. I'm on SNAP and mine come from Ocala just as that one did.

That is where DCF mail comes out of. Did you APPLY FOR SNAP/EBT, TANF or cash assistance?

You can call they can be difficult to reach you may have to leave a message for call back.

If this is the address and the phone on that letterhead is 866-762-2237

Than it's legit.

i'd love to see a follow-up of how op handled this. did you make any calls, & if so, what replies did you get?

///

Why the heck are you living here if all of us Floridians are so backward and stupid. Go back wherever you came from. You won't be missed.

Exactly. Plus it says alleged claim was denied. Throw it away. Why put all the drama into a scam.

Don't be nasty!!

We got one