Spam calls inundate Governance Center

By Dean Rhodes

Smoke Signals editor

The Tribe’s Governance Center became a target of robo calls on Wednesday, July 10, as the central phones operators fielded more than 1,800 calls from a single phone number.

According to General Manager’s Office Executive Assistant Barbara Branson, the calls originated from the phone number 240-351-4448. An Internet search found the number listed on www.shouldianswer.com as a nuisance call, Social Security scam and spammer from India, among other references.

“IT staff is working with our phone provider to try to resolve the issue,” Branson said. “Unfortunately, we are losing legitimate callers and we are turning the phones off periodically as the volume is great. We have posted an alert on the Tribe’s Facebook page to let members know that there is a problem.”

One Tribal employee who received a call from the phone number on their direct line said the caller was offering loans with a 2- to 4-percent interest rate and spoke with an accent.

The phone number was eventually blocked from reaching the Tribe's system, Senior Telecommunications Technician Mark Scheelar announced via e-mail.