Alaskans all over the state are reporting calls from a group that claims to be the U.S. Marshals Service and threatens to charge or arrest them unless they hand over money.
The U.S. Marshals office warns that the calls are a scam that has been circulating around the rest of the country for several years.
Laurel Andrews is one of the Alaskans recently targeted by the phone scam.
“So, now in order to connect to U.S. Marshals office, please press ‘one’ and your call will connect it to your case concern officer,” said the voicemail.
“I didn’t call them back,” said Andrews, of Fairbanks. “I considered it, but I don’t want them to have my number on their list or however it works.”
While Alaskans may be getting flooded with these calls, they’re actually not new.
Usually, the person being called is threatened with criminal charges or arrest if they don’t hand over checking account or credit card numbers or personal information such as a social security number to the U.S. Marshals office.
The call itself is a tip-off that Alaskans are being scammed, according to federal officials.
“We wouldn’t call you and warn you that we’d be coming,” said Deputy U.S. Marshal Rochelle Liedike. “We would be knocking on your door.”
Liedike said the office has received hundreds of reports from Alaskans about the fraud. The phone calls sometimes appear “spoofed,” or made to look like they’re from a local number.
“First of all, if you don’t recognize the number coming in to you, don’t answer the call. Let it go to voicemail. Do not respond to that voicemail,” Liedike said.
“Again, this is not (an) actual U.S. Marshals office contacting you. Please do not push any buttons. Do not provide any information to them,” she said. “Just hang up on the call.”
Liedike said their office in Anchorage has been jammed with calls from Alaskans asking or notifying them about the scam. But she said the U.S. Marshals Service can’t investigate the calls. Neither can any local police department.
The scammy calls may come and go in waves.
Liedike urges Alaskans to go to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center or report fraud at the Federal Trade Commission website, especially if someone suspects they may have become a victim.
Matt Miller is a reporter at KTOO in Juneau.
