Brazen fraudsters are using the official telephone number of a court in a scam designed to dupe the public out of personal details and, ultimately, cash, the Manchester Evening News can reveal. Police and Action Fraud, the UK's national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime, are believed to be investigating.
Manchester Civil Justice Centre, where county and family courts are based, alongside sittings of the High Court, is understood to have fallen victim to 'spoofing'. According to Action Fraud, the scam known as 'number spoofing' works by fraudsters cloning the telephone number of an organisation or company they want to impersonate so the official number appears on a victim's caller ID display on landlines or mobiles.
Fraudsters then pass themselves off as officials - in this case court officials. As a result, court bosses have urged anyone with no current involvement in the courts system to ignore any such calls they recieve.
