saw this on the nextdoor app and was blown away that they almost got away with it. There were so may red flags.

Sorry, very long but worth the read

[quote* Got a phone call from a "Deputy Wynn" from the US Marshalls office in New Orleans. He knew my name, address, and birthdate.

* Wynn stated that I missed a Grand Jury Court Juror date. He said they have the form that I sent back with my signature, but I failed to appear.

* He said the Judge issued two citations for me: Failure to Appear and Contempt of Court.

* I needed to come down to the Fed Courthouse to clear up the matter: The judge has three conditions for me to clear:

1. Signature Analysis to confirm or clear that the signature on the document was mine or forged. He KNEW that we are having mail delivery issues in River Ridge, assured me that he was my advocate, and was certain that I did nothing wrong. BUT - I needed to come down in person for signature analysis. If my signature is not same, then I'm clear and free to leave and court documents will reflect accordingly. If its same signature, I'll be given a court date to plead before the judge.
(At this point I'm freaking out. He tells me if I don't take care of this, a Warrant for Arrest will be issued. Naive, I am fearful. We have had severe mail issues in my area for months and it was plausible that someone got my summons and was pranking me.)

2. I need to provide a "retainer" like an "insurance bond" when I report to the Courthouse. There will be a "Kiosk" where I can record the fine payment. If signature is cleared, then the Court does not process the payment. (So far I'm on the hook with this. I'm shaking and freaking out.)

3. I must maintain an "Open Line of Communication" enroute to the courthouse. This means that from the time I leave my driveway, I must be on the phone (speaker or bluetooth) with the Deputy. He described this as like an "Escort" vice the Marshalls serving a warrant to my residence. (I think this odd, but heck, I've never been in trouble with the law so I didn't know to challenge this). So I ask if I can make an appointment. He says that I should come asap .. that if I'm stopped in a traffic violation, I would be arrested due to these citations. So, the sooner the better. (I'm now starting to suspect this isn't real deal, but I'm scared so I comply).

NOW ... I'm on my way to the courthouse and this guy Wynn calls me and tells me if I hang up, it would be considered "running" and a warrant would be issued for my arrest. (Still freaking, but suspecting foul play) NOW it gets smelly. He informs me, once I'm driving, that something is amiss at the courthouse and they can't take cash, credit or check for the retainer. I need to go get a Electronic Court Voucher. To get this ECV I have to go to my bank, get the cash (which he reveals is $3000), and then go get this ECV. Turns out this "ECV" is like a prepaid credit card. SO ... I am to get this ECV, bring it to the Courthouse, and insert into the Kiosk.

I'm thing foul play for certain. I can't hang up, right? Well, I pull over and I text my good friend Susan T with an SOS! "Urgent: Is ECV real?" She texts "WHAAAT?" Sparing the details, I text back and forth to Susan while this guy is talking to me. I begin to call him out that this sounds like a scam. He tells me "Why would I have you come to the Courthouse if this was a scam"" and "I'm not asking you for any personal information" etc. Sounds convincing but ... I said "Let me hang up and call the Marshalls office to verify this". He insists I cannot hang up. Soooo ... Susan calls for me! In meantime, I said, "hey let me come to the courthouse and meet you and then once I verify this is real I'll go get the voucher". He says "With these citations on your record, if you come to the Courthouse without the retainer, we'll have to DETAIN YOU and you'll have to get someone to then bring the retainer for you". He then puts me on hold and his supervisor comes on the phone, Deputy David Harlow. Wow. shite. I'm Scared!

But friend Susan texts back THIS IS A SCAM. She spoke to Court jury clerk who confirmed this is NOT anything they do.

So I tell Harlow that I am sick and about to throw up and need to get off the phone. He wants me to leave the phone open. I pretend to heave and he says "If we loose connection I'll call you back in 5 minutes". I heave a little louder and hang up. He never did call back.

SO now I call the Court Clerk myself and find out the deal of the scam. I also called and reported to the REAL US Marshalls and called the Jeff Parish Sheriff (who said I was the 3rd call of that day about this scam).

The men were extremely convincing and I was extremely scared which made me extremely gullible.

The rest of the scam would have played out like this according to the Marshalls:
I would have obtained cash and then got a prepaid credit card in the amount of $3000. On my way to the courthouse, they would say something like "Great News! We have convinced the judge to waive the citations. You'll just need to pay court costs blah blah blah" They would somehow convince me to give them the # on the prepaid card (this ECV). Boom, my money would be gone.

By the way, there is NO SUCH THING as an Electronic Court Voucher and the Federal Courthouse DOES NOT have a payment Kiosk. ALSO ...David Harlow is the Deputy Director of the US Marshalls (the NATIONAL HQ).

$3000 saved. I would have caught on to this when they waived me off of going to the courthouse and asked for the card # over the phone.[/quote]