There have been numerous telephone scams over the past year involving individuals identifying themselves as representatives of the Superior Court or other public agency. In these scams, citizens are contacted by phone by someone claiming to be with the court, sheriff, or other affiliated public agency. The person is either told they are late paying a court fine, have an open warrant, have failed to report for jury duty, or something else related to the court system. Victims are being told that if they do not pay the caller (via credit card, Apple iTunes cards, or bank routing number, etc.) they will have additional penalties added or go to jail. Calls sometimes come from various 800 numbers that when used appear to duplicate a public agency’s phone system in order to give the impression of credibility.
Please note that these calls are fraudulent and have no connection to the Superior Court. Court personnel will never ask for personal information over the phone such as social security numbers, credit card accounts, or bank routing numbers. If you receive a phone call from someone making these claims and asking for personal or financial information, hang up and immediately report the situation to local law enforcement.
Additional information related to telephone and email fraudulent activity is available on the FBI’s public website at https://www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety/common-scams-and-crimes
If you get such a call, report it to your local law enforcement agency and file a report with the Federal Trade Commission at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/
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