Warning to Public of Sophisticated Telephone Scams

January 10, 2024

The United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama is alerting the public of several scams, all involving individuals claiming to be officers of the court or local law enforcement. These individuals are attempting to convince victims that they need to either immediately pay some fee or local law enforcement will come to their house within minutes to arrest them.

The Alabama Middle District urges people receiving such communications to report these calls to their local Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) office and to file a consumer complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which can detect patterns and then share that data with the FBI.

The ALMD reminds its constituents that most contact between the court and any respective jurors or witnesses takes place through the U.S. mail service. Any telephone contact initiated by the Court will not include requests for social security numbers, birth dates or any other personal identifiers, credit card information, electronic payment requests, and/or any other such information.