16-05-2025
New phishing scam targets residents in the Carolinas
HICKORY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) – The Better Business Bureau is getting more reports of a new phishing scam targeting people in the Carolinas.
It reportedly starts with a phony 'process server' and a non-existent court case against you.
Tish Whiteman lives in Hickory and tells Queen City News she recently experienced this.
'I was at work, and I answered my cell phone. It was a woman on the phone stating that she was a process server, and they were trying to serve me papers,' Whiteman said. 'They had some information on me. When I hung up my phone, I was getting phone calls from my ex-husband, my daughter out in California, my mother and some friends they had gotten the same phone call looking for me.'
Whiteman wanted to share her story as a warning because she doesn't want anyone to fall victim.
'The woman told me that for every attempt or failed attempt that they made, it would be a $75 charge,' Whiteman said.
Some of the friends the scammer reached out to, she hadn't spoken to in years. The same goes for her ex-husband. Whiteman said she is thankful she did not fall victim to this.
'There are people who will fall for the scam,' Whiteman said. 'Someone like my mother, who's 83 years old, would definitely fall for something like that and get nervous. She would probably have given them her credit card number or money and be out that money.'
If you're on the phone with someone you don't know, and that person is pressuring you to make a decision or to act right now – hang up. BBB VP of Marketing and Communications Juliana O'Rork said it's likely a scam.
'That's a tactic used in a lot of scams and we're always warning people never feel super pressured to do anything,' O'Rork said.
Juliana O'Rork from the BBB said data breaches happen all the time, so it's very easy for scammers to get your personal information. But because these scam artists have been calling your family members, she said let them know, too, that they could be impacted.
'That is another piece of this that's kind of been added to this is now it's not just you as an individual they're targeting. They're also targeting your friends and family,' O'Rork said. 'So what they might do is call you, you know, tell you all this stuff over the phone as far as you're going to be served and they can't give you any details because federal law prohibits that, but they want to confirm some of your personal information.'
O'Rork warns not to confirm anything you're asked because that can help scammers verify more of your personal information that they may not already have. You can report scams like this to the BBB Scam Tracker.
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