U.S. Marshals See Another Spike in Scam Phone Calls in the Northern Ohio Area

Were you contacted by someone pretending to be a U.S. marshal? Report it to the Federal Trade Commission.

Cleveland, OH – The U.S. Marshals are alerting the public of several imposter scams involving individuals claiming to be U.S. Marshal Peter Elliott.

Recently, medical providers in the Cleveland area have been receiving calls to their billing departments seeking information from the company in general and specifically from those that answer the calls.

Scammers use many tactics to sound credible. They sometimes provide information like badge numbers, names of actual law enforcement officials and federal judges, and courthouse addresses. They may also spoof their phone numbers to appear on caller ID as if they are calling from the court or a government agency.

If a citizen receives a potential scam phone call, the US Marshals are urging the public to call the clerk of the court’s office of the U.S. District Court in your area and verify the court order. If an order does not exist, then it is likely the individual is being scammed.

"The U.S. Marshals would never ask for a credit/debit or gift card number, banking routing numbers, or ask for funds to be wired for any purpose," said US Marshal Pete Elliott. “If the caller is urging you to provide this type of information or any other personal or financial information, hang up and report the call to the Marshals and the (Federal Trade Commission) FTC. You can even report to both agencies anonymously."

Things to remember:

• U.S. Marshals will never ask for credit/debit card/gift card numbers, wire transfers, or bank routing numbers for any purpose.
• Do not divulge personal or financial information to unknown callers.
• Report scam phone calls to your local U.S. Marshals Service office and to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
• You can remain anonymous when you report.
• Authenticate the call by calling the clerk of the court's office of the U.S. District Court in your area and verify the court order given by the caller.