Telephone scammers continue to target Idaho residents
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho, there have been callers in Idaho, claiming to be a Deputy U.S. Marshal threatening residents with a federal arrest warrant.
As recently reported, when unsuspecting citizens return the call, an automated message says:
“You have reached the U.S. Marshals Service serving the Northern District of Idaho. If
this is an emergency, hang up and dial 911. If you have information regarding the
whereabouts of an absconded fugitive please remain on the line for the next available
deputy. For all other inquiries please listen closely because our menu options have
recently changed. For warrants division, press
1; for civil processing, press
2; for gang enforcement, press
3; for the officer in charge, press
4; for clerk of courts…
Once connected to a person, individuals are given the choice to avoid a federal arrest warrant by paying a fine to settle out of court. The individual may be instructed to purchase a prepaid Visa or MasterCard, and to provide the number on the back of the card to the caller.”
Because of the phone scams continuing to occur, the U.S. Attorney wants the public to be smart and be more aware of scams. And of of the fact that, officers do not notify people of arrest warrants by phone.
U.S. Marshal, Darrin Lambert of the U.S. District Court House in Pocatello says if you ever receive these calls, notify the U.S. Marshals immediately and report any information you could gather from the call. He also says do not give them any information of any kind.
Lambert says this particular scam is not just in Idaho, but all over the country. Authorities are in process of investigating the scam and finding and prosecuting the scammer or scammers. He says there is no known number of victims throughout the country since many of them are not reported.
“Well so many of the scams going on these days. In fact, this most recent scam, it’s a pretty elaborate scam. The caller is giving a call back number with a directory once you call back that number, the number sounds fairly legitimate,” said Lambert.
If you notice a scam such as this one, or anything similar, report them, and above all, hang up the phone!
Report phone scams immediately during normal business hours to the U.S. Marshal Service: 208-478-4186.
