By Mike Donoghue
Vermont News First

The U.S. Marshals in Vermont issued a warning Wednesday to local residents to be aware of several imposter scams involving individuals claiming to be U.S. marshals, court officers, or other law enforcement officials in an effort to try to collect a court fine.

Acting Chief Deputy John Curtis said Wednesday the Vermont office received complaints from three people in the past two days trying to get people to turn over money to the scammers.  The scammers say they are willing to collect a fine in lieu of making an arrest for failing to report for jury duty or other offenses.

The scammers then tell victims they can avoid arrest by purchasing a prepaid debit card such as a Green Dot card or gift card.  They are asked to read the card number over the phone to satisfy the fine.

The Vermont office received a complaint this week from a concerned man that was in Canada for a wedding and was fearful that he might be detained, Curtis said.

The other two reported calls this week targeted older women, he said.

Curtis urged anybody getting calls seeking payment of fines to hang up and to call the local FBI office and  file a consumer complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.  The FTC has the ability to detect patterns of fraud from the information collected and share that data with law enforcement.

He said 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, Curtis said.