Scam "DOL" call regarding 408(b)(2) compliance?

[AndrewZ]

One of our clients received a call from the "DOL" to the effect of claiming that their plan is "not recognized" by the DOL because they're not in compliance with 408(b)(2), and they'll call back in a week to confirm they've taken appropriate actions. The client says it sounded like a robot.

It seems obvious this is some sort of scam (like the IRS, the DOL would only initiate contact by mail, and they have no way of knowing if a plan complies with 408(b)(2) unless they audit it). If they call again, we're asking our client to request a return phone # and agent ID # to call them back with.

Has anyone else experienced this, or have any insight?

Another client recently received a letter from an advisory firm trying to scare them into hiring them for a "free" 408(b)(2) compliance review.  

Thanks.

[QDROphile]

Last pragraph:

One person’s scare is another’s marketing effort, but I agree that both deserve skeptical consideration

[Peter Gulia]

There has been an uptick in fraudsters impersonating regulators, not only EBSA and IRS but also banking, insurance, and securities regulators.  It’s frequent enough that last year the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority sent securities broker-dealers an alert about the problem.  And some fraudsters use techniques much smarter than those your client described to you.

 

There are many ways to get rid of a faker while not offending a caller who is a legitimate government inquirer or investigator.  Among them, one can respond that the person the to-be-examined fiduciary will assign to respond to the inquiry or investigation will initiate her own communication with the regulator.  It’s unnecessary to ask for a telephone number or even a name because an experienced person already knows how to communicate with the regulator and get the status of a matter.