We have recently been made aware of a new phone scam targeting North Carolina citizens. In this new scam, the caller purports to represent a law firm collecting a debt. The caller threatens the citizen with arrest if the debt isn’t paid via credit card during the phone call. The phone call has been reported to go like this:
Victims of these scams are chosen at random. The scammers are hoping to scare vulnerable people into thinking they must provide credit card information to avoid going to jail.
Unfortunately, there is nothing law firms can do to prevent scammers from spoofing their phone number.
Please note that the Law Offices of Adrienne Blocker DOES NOT collect debt via phone call. If you receive a phone call to collect debt purporting to be from this law firm, please do not provide personal or financial information to the caller. If possible, write down the name of the law office that appeared on the caller ID and hang up. Please call the State Bar Attorney Client Assistance Program at 919-828-4620 to describe what happened.
Contact the North Carolina Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Agency by calling 877-566-7226 or visiting www.ncdoj.gov/Consumer.aspx.
Report telemarketing fraud to the FBI. You can contact your local agency or complete their online tips form at https://tips.fbi.gov/.