Fraudsters impersonate courts in scheme targeting New Yorkers
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A notice posted by the Office of Court Administration on social media warning of fraudulent demands for court fines. Photo taken via Office of Court Administration
By Noah Powelson
Scammers recently began imitating court officials, attempting to trick New Yorkers into thinking they owe fines to New York City Criminal Court.
The Office of Court Administration and the Commission on Judicial Conduct told New Yorkers last week to be wary of fraudulent demands for court fines. The warnings went out on the offices’ websites and social media feeds after several people came forward looking to pay fines that don’t actually exist.
The fake court fines come in the form of seemingly official documents telling would-be victims they owe money, usually because of parking tickets or other traffic violations.
“It has come to the attention of the Unified Court System that a scammer is distributing a fraudulent demand for a fine payment, typically via text messaging or emails,” the UCS said on its social media. “Please be advised that the UCS does not impose fines via text, email, or social media. Nor does the Court System request personal or financial information in this manner. If you receive a suspicious message purportedly from a court, we urge you to check with the court clerk in your community.”
To appear legitimate, the fake fines cite actual city and state laws they claim victims violated. They also list fake case numbers for the supposed infractions and even include a date, time, and judge for a court appearance that does not exist.
The scam listed the New York Criminal Court in Manhattan at 100 Centre St. as the location of the court appearance. The Commission on Judicial Conduct found out about the scam after several people who received the notice called its office.
“The Commission became aware of the scam after recipients of the fraudulent messages began calling and emailing our office to verify the claims,” a spokesperson for the commission told the Eagle. “We immediately notified OCA Security because, while the scam used our phone number, it identified the location as the Criminal Court.”
Neither OCA nor the commission said it was aware of anyone who had fallen victim to the scam.
A new page was recently added to the Unified Court System’s website warning users that scams impersonating court officials and documents are on the rise.
The website reminds users the court never asks for payments over the phone, and warns QR codes on these fraudulent fines can contain viruses. They additionally say to only trust emails coming from an official @nycourts.gov address.
The website also recommends verifying any suspicious court correspondence with a local court.
