The Wyoming Department of Family Services is telling people to not give out their personal information if they receive an unscheduled phone call from someone purporting to be a state employee.

DFS employees have recently reported citizens receiving calls from a state-affiliated phone number beginning with 307-777-XXXX. The caller asks people for their name and social security number.

The calls, of course, are not being made by a real state employee. The department says the calls are a form of "spoofing," which involves a scammer calling someone and making another number -- in this case, 307-777-XXXX -- show up on the recipient's caller ID, in order to trick the recipient into thinking the call is truly from a state employee.

Spoofed calls can originate from other countries, and as such, the laws in the recipient's country may not apply to the scammer. This limits the effectiveness of law enforcement in stopping the scam.

The department says their employees should only ask for personal information from someone if that person has applied for a specific program through the department, such as SNAP.

DFS employees usually schedule phone calls with clients, so anyone who receives an unscheduled phone call from someone purporting to represent the department should not give out any personal information.

The department says anyone who receives an unscheduled call from a caller who asks for personal information should immediately call their caseworker to report the call.

As always, be careful when giving out personal information over the phone.

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