Phone scammers impersonating U.S. marshals and other federal officials have been intimidating Mainers for the past two weeks.
These scammers threaten victims with arrest, seizure of property and other consequences if they don’t pay a fine or post bond, the U.S. Marshals Service in Maine warned in a press release Friday. Scammers have been reciting publicly available information on their potential victims, such as previous addresses or phone numbers, to appear legitimate, according to the Service.
Scammers may also spoof their caller IDs and provide fictitious information such as badge numbers, case numbers and names of law enforcement officials, the U.S. Marshals Service said.
Officials are unsure of the callers’ origins at this time, and say that other parts of New England are being affected.
U.S. Marshals in Boston are also getting reports of these phone calls, Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Ryan Guay of Maine said.
The U.S. Marshals Service urges the public to be vigilant, and says that federal marshals will never inquire about credit card numbers, bank routing numbers or any other personal financial information.
“We don’t ask for such things,” Guay said.
Based on past patterns, the U.S. Marshals Service thinks there is a group of people working collaboratively on this scam. The Service urges Mainers to report scam phone calls to the Federal Trade Commission or their local FBI office.
