The U.S. Marshals Service for the District of Nebraska and the FBI are out with a warning about phone scams.
The agency says there are several nationwide imposter scams involving people claiming to be U.S. Marshals, court officers, or other law officers.
The Marshals and FBI urge people to report these calls their local FBI office and file a consumer complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.
During these calls, scammers attempt to collect a fine in lieu of arrest due to a claim of identity theft, failing to report for jury duty, or other offenses.
They then tell victims they can avoid arrest by withdrawing cash and transferring it to the government, purchasing a prepaid debit card such as a Green Dot card or gift card and reading the card number over the phone to satisfy the fine, or by depositing cash into bitcoin ATMs.
Scammers sometimes give badge serial numbers, names of actual law enforcement people, and federal judges, and courthouse addresses.
They may also spoof their phone numbers to appear on caller IDs as if they are calling from a government agency or the court, including a 402 Area Code.
The U.S. Marshals Service says they will never ask for credit/debit card/gift card numbers, wire transfers, or bank routing numbers, or to make bitcoin deposits for any purpose.
They say never give out personal or financial information to unknown callers.
(Picture from U.S. Marshals Service)