Florida parents warned: Don’t fall for Department of Children and Families imposters

Crankers using Facebook and voicemail to scare parents into thinking they have been reported to DCF.

Over the past few months, Florida has received numerous reports of fake DCF (Department of Children and Families) contacts. Several parents have contacted DCF directly, claiming that someone from DCF contacted them by phone or on Facebook, alleging they were under investigation for child neglect or abuse. When the recipients called DCF to find out what was going on, they were unable to find any reports on the parents.

One such impersonation happened 2 weeks ago. According to CBS 12, a man called one particular mother and said that they had reports she was dealing drugs and wanted to set up an appointment to come to the house and investigate. When the woman called DCF, they had no clue what she was talking about.

On January 9th, someone posted on a man’s Facebook page, claiming to be from DCF and that they had a report which accused him of mistreating and with-holding food from his child. DCF said that no such report exists.

The most recent attempt happened just days ago when it was reported that a woman who identified herself as “Jessica” tried to call a man several times over the last few months, leaving voicemails for his former employer and asking the gentleman to call her regarding a DCF case. Again, DCF says that the man has no open or closed investigations on file.

DCF is asking parents not to be fooled by these imposters. They say that their agents would never contact someone on Facebook or by phone. Standard protocol for agents is to follow up on reports in person, without warning or contact. It’s important for the agency to visit  homes by surprise in order to ascertain the real conditions.