County Court Judgement and Bailiff Scams

Businesses are reminded to stay vigilant further to a number of instances recently brought to our attention, where scammers posing as Court bailiffs have attempted to obtain money by deception.

Typically, the scammers will call an unsuspecting business and demand an immediate payment of a sum of money to satisfy a judgment that has apparently been entered against the business, to halt bailiffs attending the business premises to recover goods.

In some cases, the scammers provide an apparently legitimate claim number and the name of a judge as evidence of a judgment being entered, with this information ostensibly obtained from the publicly available court record.

Information published on the GOV.UK website notes that scammers may also send emails in the first instance and follow up with a telephone call appearing to come from an official phone line.

It should be noted that a bona fide County Court bailiff:

• will only pursue a debt where a County Court Judgment has been registered;
• will not telephone or send emails asking for money or make multiple calls in a short space of time;
• will not ask you to transfer money into a bank account;
• will not tell you to pay and say you can claim it back at a later date;
• will not provide you with prefilled court forms to send in to defend a claim.

Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/warning-about-bailiff-email-scam

We would remind you to stay vigilant against fraudsters posing as enforcement officers and bailiffs and be suspicious of such urgent requests for payment.

It can be easy to fall victim to such scams, particularly where the fraudster seemingly has legitimate court information and is demanding immediate payment. This can involve keeping your employees aware of such scams and reminding them of the dangers of disclosing bank details or making payments to unverified third parties.

If you believe you have been a victim of this scam, or if there has been a bona fide judgment, please contact one of our Litigation experts on 0161 832 3434 who will be able to assist on taking the proper steps to respond and advise on possibly getting the judgment set aside.