USA marshals are warning people of a telephone scam in which solicitors are trying to collect fines.
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U.S. Marshals have received several calls over the past few days in regards to this scam, according to Attorney George L. Beck Jr., and U.S. Marshal Thomas Hession. Victims have been told they can avoid arrest by paying a fine using a reloadable credit card, and were urged to call a number and provide their own credit card number to initiate the process.
The scammer will provide information such as titles and badge numbers of a legitimate law enforcement officer or court official, names of federal judges, and courtroom addresses in an attempt to make the scam appear credible. In addition, when looking at your caller ID it may look like it is coming from a court or government agency – they are not. After telling the unsuspecting person on the other end that there’s a warrant out for their arrest for failing to report for jury duty, the scammer then reportedly says he’ll need more information for “verification purposes”.
Additional information about the U.S. Marshals Service can be found at here.
Fair says marshals are investigating a recent case involving a victim from New Orleans who was told to wire money or be arrested for missing jury duty.
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The Department of Justice wants to be clear – The U.S. Marshals Office and the Federal Courts will NEVER call you to pay fines over the phone for failure to show up to jury duty.
