Residents of the Northern District of Florida and other districts are receiving fraudulent phone calls claiming to be from the Bankruptcy Court. The scammer may demand a payment, which may include Zelle, Venmo, or purchasing a pre-paid card.
 

The scammer may sound convincing and use real information including their real address; real court addresses; real names of court officials, trustees, and federal judges to make the scam appear more credible. Scammers have also “spoofed” the phone number that appears on caller IDs so that the call falsely appears to be from a court number or the number of another government agency.

These types of phone calls are not from the Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Florida.  You should not provide the caller with any personal information, credit card numbers, pre-paid card numbers, or money.  Here are the facts:

• The Court will never demand payment over the phone.
• The Court will never request a gift card number verbally or in writing to satisfy an obligation.
• Any official correspondence will come by mail directly from the Court. 
• A fine will never be imposed until after the individual has appeared in court and been given the opportunity to explain his or her circumstances. If a fine is imposed, it will be in open court and reduced to writing (and will not be payable by Zelle or gift card number).

Debtors should report contacts from any suspicious communications to U.S. Trustee Program's Office of Criminal Enforcement using the instructions found at https://www.justice.gov/ust/report-suspected-bankruptcy-fraud.