It’s no secret that process servers face unique threats while on the job, specifically as a result of angry recipients who are less than pleased to receive legal papers. However, an entirely new problem recently arose in Yavapai County in Prescott, Arizona when residents started reporting suspicious phone calls to the police.
On Monday, December , a woman received a call from a person claiming to be a process server. The person used the name of a Superior Court judge in the area, stating that he had issued two warrants for the woman when she failed to appear for jury service. According to the women, she was told to pay $1,000 immediately or risk being arrested. Fortunately, the victims “smartly questioned the validity of the call, did not comply, and verified with the local court that the call was a scam,” said Dwight D’Evelyn, Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office spokesman.
Unfortunately, another woman who received a similar call was convinced to pay $2,000 to the supposed process server. It was only after the fact that the victim realized it was a con and she called the Sheriff’s Office to report the incident. Yet another woman received the same call when she was at work, but she hung up after the caller demanded payment.
Now the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office is trying to get out the word that the calls are simply scams. “Remember, law enforcement agencies and court officials will never call to solicit payment on a warrant in this manner,” D’Evelyn said in a statement. He also emphasized that victims should not be fooled if the con artist callers use real names of court or law enforcement officials, since such information is easy enough to obtain.
If the trend in Yavapai continues to spread throughout the country, citizens everywhere will need to be cognizant of the calls they receive and remember that process servers do not conduct their business in such a way.
