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Scam Alert: I did not call you about union employee retirement planning

By Alex Gillen

May 13, 2026

We received calls recently from financial advisors across the country.  The financial advisor indicates they are returning my call having received a voicemail.  Until recently, the return phone line in the message left did not work, so the financial advisor googled my name and called my office.  The calls the financial advisors received were not from my office.  

The reports we get on the call calls are about the same.  The audio and text of one is below.  The calls have come from phone number 216-493-3879 from Cleveland, Ohio.  This number now has a voicemail for Alex Gillen, too.  Again, this call is not from our office.  

We reported this call to https://reportfraud.ftc.gov.  We encourage you to do the same.  These folks will probably change the number or the name and continue the scam.  

The call is a reminder of how advanced technology tools allow scammers to do more advanced scamming.  Scamming will only get more sophisticated, and we all must adjust.  This is also means keeping an eye out for the older members of our community, who might be less versed in technological capabilities of scammers.  

If you get a request that you are unsure about or asking you to do something unusual, be skeptical.  

Text of the call:

“Hi, my name is Alex Gillen.  I am our labor union liaison for the state of Oregon and yeah, I am looking for a financial professional that we could send some of our union employees to when they need help with retirement planning investments and other financial advice.  So if you can just give me a call when you get a chance you can reach me at this number here, which is the office line or my direct lines area code 216-493-3879.  Again, my name is Alex Gillen, I am our labor union liaison for the state and I am looking for a financial professional to send local union members to again.  Again, you could reach me at this number here or my direct line area code 216-493-3879.  I look forward to speaking with you soon and hope you are having a great day.”