The NACBA has recently issued a country-wide alert warning consumers of a new fraudulent scam targeting people that have recently filed for bankruptcy. If you have filed for bankruptcy in the past few months - make sure to read this warning!
The Scam
Con artists are using technology that tricks ‘Caller ID’ systems. Calls appear to come from a person’s bankruptcy attorney, but those calls are really coming from con artists. What do they want? When picking up this call, con artists are telling people to wire money immediately to cover a debt. These people are told that the debt is ‘outside of the court proceedings.’
Many people are quickly sending money to cover this type of debt based on the fear that they might be arrested if the monies are not sent immediately (a threat that has been effective so far). The people that are running this scam use information that can be gathered from public records, so it’s hard to determine whether or not the debt that is mentioned is real - but rest assured that this is a scam!
The Truth
In no way - at no time and under no circumstance - would any bankruptcy attorney ask you to wire money immediately to cover a debt. Since these calls are often placed during non-business hours, it is hard to get in touch with your bankruptcy attorney immediately following this type of call. However, you can trust that these calls are not legitimate.
Do not send any money quickly via wire transfer to your bankruptcy attorney! If you receive this type of call, make sure to call the Dellutri Law Group right away. We are doing everything within our power to (as always!) protect our clients from scams like this one.