U.S. Marshals warn of phone scam

11/17/2017

The U.S. Marshals are warning residents of nationwide scams purporting to represent the federal agency or court officers.

Scammers tell victims they are subject to arrest for failure to report for jury duty, and offer to accept payment of a fine instead. They then direct their targets to buy prepaid debit cards and relay account information over the phone.

In an effort to sound legitimate, callers occasionally provide badge numbers, name actual law-enforcement officers, and spoof their phone numbers to represent a government agency.

Officials ask anyone who receives these messages to call the U.S. Marshals Service office and Federal Trade Commission.