U.S. Marshals Warn of New Phone Scam

(KLIX) – Don’t be fooled by a phone call.

The U.S. Marshals are warning Idahoans of an imposter phone scam in which the callers trick people into sending them money. These fraudulent individuals use a number that makes the victim believe it’s the marshal’s office calling.

U.S. Marshal Brent Bunn of the District of Idaho said in a statement:

This tactic is known as neighbor spoofing, where scammers using technology to modify what number appears on your caller ID to impersonate phone numbers from friends, local businesses, and in our case, law enforcement, to appear legit” “Our office is receiving dozens of calls from people nationwide asking us why the Marshals are seeking money from them. We want people to know these calls are scams.

Authorities said residents should be vigilant against scammers and suggest several things to remember, according to the news release:

• 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 scammer provides a court order, authenticate the call by calling the clerk of the court’s office of the U.S. District Court in your area and verify the court order given by the caller.

If you believe you've been the victim of a scam, report it to you local FBI office, and file a consumer complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, according to the Marshals, which has the ability to detect patterns of fraud from the information collected and share that data with law enforcement.