Source: US Marshals Service
Alexandria, VA – The U.S. Marshals Service for the Eastern District of Virginia is alerting the public again of a phone scam where con artists are spoofing the district office’s real phone numbers to trick people into sending money.
The tactic is known as neighbor spoofing, where scammers use technology to modify what number appears on your caller ID to impersonate phone numbers from friends, local businesses, and law enforcement.
“Offices from the Eastern District of Virginia are receiving calls from people asking why the Marshals are requesting money from them,” said Deputy U.S. Marshal Brian Stalnaker of the Eastern District of Virginia. “We want people to know these calls are scams.”
The U.S. Marshals are urging people to report the calls to their local FBI office and file a consumer complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, which can detect patterns of fraud from the information collected and share that data with law enforcement.
During these calls, scammers attempt to collect a fine in lieu of arrest for failing to report for jury duty or other offenses. They then tell victims they can avoid arrest by purchasing a store gift card or prepaid debit card and read the card number over the phone to satisfy the fine. Scammers have also been requesting cryptocurrency payments to avoid arrest.
“Scammers use many tactics to sound credible. They sometimes provide information like badge numbers, names of actual law enforcement officials and federal judges” stated U.S. Marshal Shannon Saylor of the Eastern District of Virginia. “These calls are becoming more prevalent in our area, and we want to educate the public on these types of scams.”
If you believe you were a victim of such a scam, you are encouraged to report the incident to your local FBI office and to the FTC.
Things to remember:
- U.S. Marshals will never ask for credit/debit card/gift card numbers, wire transfers, or bank routing numbers for any purpose.
- Don’t divulge personal or financial information to unknown callers.
- Report scam phone calls to your local FBI office and to the FTC.
- You can remain anonymous when you report.
- If you believe that you are being scammed over the phone, hang up and call a verified number for
the agency being represented by the caller. You can talk to an authentic employee of that agency
about the caller’s claims.