Residents in the Eastern District of Louisiana of the U.S. Marshals Service are being alerted to a phone scam in which con artists pose as law enforcement and government representatives.
The U.S. Marshals Service claims that the scam makes use of a method known as “spoofing,” which enables someone to alter a phone number so that it appears on a caller ID as a local number.
These fake numbers can be used to make it seem as though someone is receiving a call from a government or law enforcement entity, according to U.S. Marshals Service officials.
They added that after calling the victims, callers will utilize the fake numbers to convince them they may escape going to jail if they transfer money, purchase a prepaid debit card or gift card, or share information over the phone in order to pay the fee.
According to U.S. Marshals officials, the Federal Trade Commission and the local FBI office should be contacted by anyone who receives a questionable phone call.
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The following advice for handling scam calls and reporting them was also given by the U.S. Marshals Service:
- Credit card, debit card, gift card, wire transfer, or bank routing number information will never be requested by the U.S. Marshals.
Give no personal or financial information to strangers that call you. - Inform the FTC and the FBI office in your area about fraudulent calls. An anonymous report may be submitted.
- “If a scammer provides a court order, authenticate the call by calling the clerk of court’s office of the U.S. District Court in your area and verify the court order given by the caller.”
