United States Attorney’s Office Issues Warning Of Telephone Scam

TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA – The United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are alerting the public of several imposter scams involving individuals claiming to be United States Attorneys, FBI Agents, or other law enforcement officials. Individuals receiving such calls are encouraged to report the solicitations to their FBI Jacksonville Division  and file a consumer complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, which has the ability to detect patterns of fraud from the information collected and share that data with law enforcement.

During the calls, appearing to come from the Northern District United States Attorney’s Office telephone number, the imposters attempt to collect a fine in lieu of arrest purportedly related to a claim of human trafficking, or other similar offenses. The intended victims are advised they can avoid arrest by paying a monetary fine.

The tactics utilized appear credible, such as providing information like badge numbers, names of actual law enforcement officials and physical courthouse addresses. The fraudsters also spoof their phone numbers to appear on caller IDs as if they are calling from a government agency.

If you have been contacted or believe you were a victim of such a scam, you are encouraged to report the incident to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center and to the Federal Trade Commission.

Things to remember:

• The United States Attorney’s Office will never contact individuals about criminal investigations and never ask for credit/debit card/gift card numbers, wire transfers, or bank routing numbers, or to make bitcoin deposits for any purpose.
• You should never divulge personal or financial information to unknown callers.
• Report scam phone calls to your local FBI office and to the FTC.
• You may remain anonymous when you report suspicious or criminal activity.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.