{"id":12136,"date":"2023-05-25T10:37:18","date_gmt":"2023-05-25T14:37:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/collierclerk.com\/?p=12136"},"modified":"2026-01-20T12:59:36","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T17:59:36","slug":"fraud-alert-new-victims-surfacing-in-court-appearance-scam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/app.collierclerk.com\/collierclerkcom\/fraud-alert-new-victims-surfacing-in-court-appearance-scam\/","title":{"rendered":"Fraud Alert: New Victims Surfacing in Court Appearance Scam"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clerk Crystal K. Kinzel warns residents and visitors about a new round of telephone scams that are emerging in Southwest Florida.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Seven (7) similar complaints were reported in January. In the scam, the caller identifies themselves as an officer with the Collier County Sheriff\u2019s Office and indicates there is a warrant out for the victim\u2019s arrest. While previous complaints centered around a failure to appear for court, the newest case focuses on a failure to report for jury duty. The scammers are then requesting a payment to avoid executing the arrest warrant. Additionally, the scammers are threatening victims with more jail time if they break a false \u201cgag order\u201d and discuss the incident with anyone.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you receive any suspicious calls asking for immediate money transfer such as this fraud scheme, immediately hang up the phone and report to our Inspector General hotline immediately,\u201d said Crystal K. Kinzel, Collier County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While residents must legally respond to a jury summons, the Clerk of Courts does not issue arrest warrants for a failure to appear. Collier residents are urged to never give personal or financial information over the phone to a stranger, especially if the caller acts aggressively. Calls asking for payments made by cash, gift card or in person are a red flag for a fraud scheme.\u00a0 Residents should be wary of caller ID, as this can be spoofed, making a phone call look like it is coming from a legitimate source.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Clerk Kinzel\u2019s Office of Inspector General can be reached at (239) 252-8412, or through the 24-hour confidential hotline at 844-ClerkIG (844-253-7544). Alternatively, you may submit a complaint online at <\/span>www.CollierClerk.com<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Collier County Sheriff\u2019s Office offers assistance <\/span>with suspicious encounters involving a request for money or personal information through its Call Before You \u201cPay\u201d hotline \u2013 (239) 252-CALL (2255). The hotline is staffed Monday through Friday by a deputy in the Financial Crimes Bureau.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clerk Crystal K. Kinzel warns residents and visitors about a new round of telephone scams that are emerging in Southwest … <\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":12137,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[514,275,274,151,419,513],"class_list":["post-12136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-announcements","tag-collier-county-sheriffs-office","tag-court-appearance-fraud","tag-fraud-alert","tag-inspector-general","tag-jury-summons","tag-telephone-scams","infinite-scroll-item","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-25","resize-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/app.collierclerk.com\/collierclerkcom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/app.collierclerk.com\/collierclerkcom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/app.collierclerk.com\/collierclerkcom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/app.collierclerk.com\/collierclerkcom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/app.collierclerk.com\/collierclerkcom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12136"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/app.collierclerk.com\/collierclerkcom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12136\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12138,"href":"https:\/\/app.collierclerk.com\/collierclerkcom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12136\/revisions\/12138"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/app.collierclerk.com\/collierclerkcom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/app.collierclerk.com\/collierclerkcom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/app.collierclerk.com\/collierclerkcom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/app.collierclerk.com\/collierclerkcom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}