The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana has received reports of scammers posing as local law enforcement officials and calling individuals — often professionals such as attorneys and health care providers — to accuse them of allegedly failing to appear as an expert witness at a court hearing or trial.
Recipients of such calls are told they have been found in contempt of court and will be arrested if they don’t pay a fine. Using threats and scare tactics, the scammers entice their victim to pay this “fine” with cash cards or other electronic payments. The scammers often spoof government phone numbers and provide their victims with the names of real law enforcement officers, court officials and judges, according to the court.
However, real courts and law enforcement officers will never call someone and demand payment for any reason. Anyone who receives a call like this should hang up immediately, according to the court.
The court provided tips on what to do if you are contacted by anyone claiming to be a law enforcement officer or court official:
- Only scammers will call, text or email demanding that you pay by cash, gift card, cryptocurrency, payment app, or a wire transfer service. No court official or law enforcement officer will ever make such a demand.
- Real officials will never demand that you pay fines by phone.
- Real officials will never call to say you’re going to be arrested or threaten to arrest you if you hang up.
- Do not divulge personal information or financial information to unknown callers, including those who claim to work for the government.
- A fine will never be imposed until after an individual has appeared in court and been given the opportunity to explain a failure to appear.
Residents of the Southern District of Indiana who believe they have been the victim of such a scam are encouraged to report the incident to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (“IC3”) at https://www.ic3.gov, and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/.
Additional information about this scam is available on the FTC’s website.
