Residents in the Northern District of Georgia have been targeted by scammers posing as officials from the U.S. Marshals Service, according to recent reports. The fraudulent calls and emails claim to come from staff at the Richard B. Russell Federal Building and United States Courthouse in Atlanta, with scammers offering help with “surety replacement” refunds or court-related payments.
Victims are instructed to send money under the promise that they will receive a refund using a password provided by the scammer. However, once funds are sent, victims do not get their money back. The communications often reference fake case numbers and may include documents that appear official.
Authorities stress that legitimate federal government correspondence comes only from email addresses ending in .gov, such as usdoj.gov or uscourts.gov. Government agencies do not use commercial domains like Outlook.com or Gmail.com for official business.
In one instance, a document displayed letterhead from the Eastern District of Pennsylvania but listed an address in Atlanta, Georgia. The sender used an email address—u.s_civil@outlook.com—that is not associated with any government agency.
The Court has issued several warnings:
• “The Court will not: Require you to send money to receive a refund.”
• “Conduct official business using non-government email addresses.”
• “Request payment through unofficial websites or peer-to-peer payment services.”
If individuals receive suspicious messages about court payments or refunds, they are advised:
1. Not to send money.
2. Not to provide personal or financial information.
3. To verify any communication’s legitimacy by contacting the relevant agency directly using contact details found on its official .gov website.
4. To report suspected scams to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at www.ic3.gov.
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia handles both civil and criminal federal cases within its jurisdiction and provides resources and information through its official website. It operates within the federal judicial system and serves 46 counties across northwestern Georgia, maintaining divisions in Atlanta, Gainesville, Newnan, and Rome (source). Established in 1848 after splitting from the original District of Georgia (source), it continues to serve as a key part of federal judiciary operations in the region.
