If you answer the phone and the caller asks for payment for a municipal court warrant, there’s only one thing to do: disconnect. Several Corpus Christi residents have received such calls in which the caller duplicates a Corpus Christi city office number. The city is investigating.
The city does not call residents about active warrants and does not demand any form of payment over the phone, according to staff. Although the court may send a text message concerning a new warrant, the message will not ask for remittance.
Scammers often employ spoofing, a method in which the caller deliberately falsifies the information that appears on your phone’s caller ID. With “neighbor spoofing,” the con artist can make it appear that a call is from a business or government agency. If you answer, the scammer will try to obtain funds or personal information.
Although phone spoofing software is easily available online, the Federal Communications Commission, via the Truth in Caller ID Act, prohibits anyone from transmitting inaccurate caller ID information with the intent to defraud. Scammers who get caught and convicted can face fines up to $10,000 per violation.
To assist its residents, the city of Corpus Christi offers the following links:
To report a spoofing scam, visit the FCC website.
For checking for active warrants with the Corpus Christi Municipal Court, visit municipalrecordsearch.com/corpuschristitx/Cases.
To explore your options for handling an active warrant, visit municipalonlinepayments.com/corpuschristitx/.
chuck@thepicayune.com
Corpus Christi issues phone scam alert
