The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office recently warned residents about scammers posing as deputies and threatening arrest over supposed missed jury duty, grand jury obligations or outstanding warrants unless an immediate fine was paid.
The Better Business Bureau is also seeing these reports — both locally and nationwide through submissions to BBB Scam Tracker. Similar schemes involve fake process servers claiming nonexistent court cases or fake debt collectors calling to retrieve funds.
These calls are designed to intimidate you. Scammers rely on fear and urgency, pressuring victims to pay before verifying the claims. They may provide plausible situations — alleging that a lien was placed on your home, you have unpaid medical bills or even that you or a family member is a person of interest in a serious matter.
Regardless of the excuse given, it’s likely that the next step will be to ask you to confirm sensitive personal information about yourself or a family member, and as noted by the Sheriff’s Office, push you to pay a fine over the phone. If you’re hesitant to give out personal information or payment information, they’ll stress the urgency of the matter — especially since they’re claiming this is a court matter.
To attempt to add authenticity to their call, they may ask if you’ll be home or at work within the next hour since they’ll be arriving soon to serve you papers, get your signature on legal documents and demand to see your forms of identification. With caller ID spoofing technology, the number may even appear to come from a local law enforcement agency or courthouse, making the scam seem all the more convincing. The reality is that most of these perpetrators aren’t anywhere nearby and could even be contacting you from another country. Some callers who have information about you could have retrieved the details from a data breach.
The reality is that the people behind these scams don’t have any legal papers to deliver or outstanding debts to collect. They want to get their hands on your personal information to commit identity theft and financial fraud. If you fill in the gaps for them, they’ll have everything they need to do so.
In a recent BBB Scam Tracker report from a Georgia resident, an individual shared this experience: “A person who identified himself as an independent process server from the county that I live in contacted my wife asking for me. He provided a business name, phone number and case number. Once I called, they said that they had tried serving me, but no one answered the door.
“They told me that they wanted to set an appointment to assess my property to collect a debt from over 20 years ago. They had my address and my driver’s license number. They stated that they could collect the debt from my Discover card and also said they had my bank information. I told them to go through the court system, and I would comply with the law. They said that they would be sending a sheriff out to assist them in assessing our property.”
Sometimes, the “process server” may be phishing for information about your family members. In another report on BBB Scam Tracker, an individual shared this: “I missed the call. They left a message stating they were calling to notify me that my father owes money for medical bills. The caller stated her name was Stephanie Rodregez, calling from Independent Process Service dispatch division, Minnesota. They tried to serve him at home or his verified location of employment and requires his signature. They stated to call (number redacted) and use reference number (redacted). I called the number back, and they had my father’s information. I did not provide any verification.”
Here’s tips from your BBB to help you avoid phishing scams:
— Don’t answer unsolicited calls, even if the caller ID claims to be from law enforcement or a professional-sounding firm. If the call is authentic, they’ll leave a message and provide information that allows you to confirm the legitimacy of what has been shared before you reach back out. Even if they aren’t successful in getting you to divulge personal information, there’s a good chance a scammer will make money by selling your contact information if you’re someone who readily answers their phone.
— Be wary of scare tactics. Scammers love to threaten people with legal action or hefty fines, scaring them into giving up their personal information and money. They hope fear will make you act without thinking. Always remember that representatives of a reputable business or legal office will be polite and civil, even in a serious situation. They won’t pressure you to act immediately, “or else.”
— Search your local court website. If you think there’s a chance someone has filed a lawsuit against you, check your local court’s website or call your local court clerk. If a lawsuit was actually filed, you should be able to confirm this with the courts.
Also, for cases where someone claims to be a member of a law enforcement agency, please be aware that they will not contact you by phone to request money, demand payment of fines or instruct you to purchase prepaid debit cards. The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office said official correspondence from its division or county courts is delivered only through proper legal channels, typically by mail.
— The scammer may have some personal information. Don’t give them more. As noted above, scammers may have some of your personal information from a previous phishing scam, a data breach or some other source. If you’re speaking with the scammer, you may even notice that the information is out of date. For example, they may use your maiden name or a previous address or workplace.
Even if the information is outdated, they may attempt to use these stolen details to get even more information from you. For example, they might read your Social Security number and then ask you to confirm your date of birth. If they read off out-of-date information, they may be attempting to trick you into providing current information. Don’t give someone further information unless you are sure you’re dealing with someone you can trust.
Also be careful when responding to questions that require a simple “yes” or “no” response, since the “Can you hear me?” scam is still around, and with the advancement of AI tools, they can replicate your voice to make it appear you’ve agreed to something you haven’t.
Don’t give out personal information about family members, either. If someone asks you to validate information about another individual, hang up the phone. Afterward, it’s a good idea to notify the family member about the call you received. That way, they can be on the lookout for other scams and take action to protect their personal and financial information if it’s at risk or has been stolen.
Visit BBB’s Spot a Scam page for tips on recognizing these and other scams and related tactics. You can reach BBB’s team at 423-266-6144 or by email at tngabbb@chattanooga.bbb.org.
Michele Mason is president of the Better Business Bureau in Chattanooga.