Public Service Announcement: Scam Uses Pennsylvania Supreme Court Phone Number

Another day, another scam.

According to a report from the Legal Intelligencer, in an attempt to obtain personal information and money, scammers have called hundreds of individuals. The caller ID shows the phone number 717-781-6181 and states “PA Courts.”

In the case of any suspicious call, email or other communication you receive requesting sensitive personal information or money, we recommend taking steps to independently determine the source of the communication and disregarding the contact information provided in it. You can do this by finding contact information from a reputable source such as a website and contacting the purported sender to inquire about the request. You can also do a Google search that includes the word “scam” and the purported source to get an idea of the typical types of scams that are used.

Another way to determine whether a suspicious communication is a scam is to contact a professional who may be familiar with the purported sender. For example, if you receive a supposed call from the IRS, perhaps contact your accountant. Similarly, we routinely have conversations with our clients about solicitations for additional “certificates” or protections associated with business entity filings and other public record filings such as trademark registrations. While such requests may not technically be illegal, most of the time they are completely unnecessary and are set up to look official so that you pay unnecessary fees.

Most of us think we would never be the victim of a scam but the methods being used become more sophisticated all of the time. Always use multiple resources to verify correspondence and inquiries that seem even remotely suspicious. I’m always happy to assist clients, but I hope that you will never need to call me because you’ve been scammed.

Matt Landis is an attorney at Russell, Krafft & Gruber, LLP, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He received his law degree from Widener University.