The Unified Court System has issued an alert to warn consumers that the courts never initiate phone calls seeking private information and never request credit card information. Sherrill Spatz, inspector general for the court system, said a warning was recently posted to the courts’ website after officials learned of calls made by individuals claiming to be court employees and seeking personal information, such as a Social Security number or a credit card number to satisfy an alleged court-ordered debt.
Ms. Spatz said there have also been incidents of “phone spoofing” where scammers use a service allowing them to change the number that appears on a caller ID when initiating calls. Ms. Spatz said there have been instances in which a scammer hijacks a court system phone number and then contacts an attorney seeking credit card data to cover an alleged overdue registration fee. She said that anyone who receives a suspicious call should call the Attorney General’s Office at 716-853-8404.
