MEMPHIS, Tenn. — There’s a new warning about scammers out to get your personal information using telephone “spoofing.”
Both the Clerk’s Office for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, as well as the Tennessee Department of Health, says scammers pretending to be with the departments are using spoofing to target victims. The calls look like they are coming from either to Clerk’s Office, with a number 901-495-1200, or from the Tennessee Department of Health.
Those claiming to be with the Clerk’s Office claim a family member has been arrested or can be released, but it requires a bond payment for a specific amount. From the Clerk’s Office: “Please be advised that the Clerk’s Office will never request payments through telephone calls. All of these calls are fictitious and none emanated from the U.S. District Court’s Clerk’s Office despite the Clerk’s Office general number appearing on the caller ID.”
The Health department says the scammers ask for personal or financial information. From the Tennessee Department of Health: “As a reminder, we do not ask for specific financial or insurance information over the telephone.”
Do not send money or give information to these callers!
Anyone who has gotten these calls should call the Clerk’s Office general number (901-495-1200 in Memphis or 731-421-9200 in Jackson) for help. The FBI is also investigating.