Victim talks about falling prey to the 'Federal Locker Scam' | Here's what to watch out for

WEST GOSHEN TWP., Pa. (WPVI) -- A Chester County police department is warning about a new scam that has already ensnared at least one local victim.

In the scam, culprits threaten the victims, telling them the U.S. Marshals will lock them up if they don't fork the money over.

It's known as the 'Federal Locker Scam' and it involved false threats of arrest if victims don't pay up.

The West Goshen Police Department said it, and neighboring departments, are dealing with a variety of scams all with the same concept.

"I was being accused of money laundering to Russia and Mexico," said the victim, who did not want to be identified.

Her case is different than most that police are seeing.

It began when she searched online for the phone number of a subscription service she wanted to cancel, she called the number that appeared thinking it was legitimate.

In fact, it was fake.

She said the person on the line told her, "Ma'am somebody hacked your account. I'm going to have to transfer you to federal authorities."

The scammer on the phone first asked her to take out thousands from her bank, then buy bars of gold, Bitcoin and gift cards.

"She went ahead and did that," said Lt. Mike Cotter of the West Goshen Police Department.

The perpetrators claim the money the victim sends them will be kept safe until the issue is resolved.

Over a period of eight days, the scammers stole $100,000 from this victim. They even told her she would get the money back.

She said she was told, "Once I got all this money into the safety locker for gold, etc., a social security person and someone from the sheriff's office would come and give me a cashier's check."

Luckily, a family member intervened and she called police.

"I was shaken, I really was, but I'm glad once I told them about the police I never heard again from them," she said.

Lt. Mike Cotter of the West Goshen Twp. Police Dept. said this is not an isolated incident and people should not feel ashamed.

"We see people ages 20 to 80 fall into this trap."

"There's a lot of scams out there that mention the U.S. Marshals Service, that mention our office," said Supervisory Deputy Rob Clark. "We will never ask for checking numbers, routing numbers, gift card numbers to be placed over the phone. If someone is asking that it's a scam."

As for the victim, who was recently widowed, we've learned she was able to get a significant amount of money back.

If you ever find yourself on a similar phone call, you are urged to contact police.