New Scam Involves Fake Process Servers
- February 28, 2012
- by ServeNow Staff
- In the News
Finding professional and legitimate process servers can be stressful and time-consuming. As with any other service industry, you want to make sure that you are not being scammed. That is why ServeNow screens all their process servers to ensure that your papers are served accurately and efficiently.
However, if you are on the other side of service of process, you should make sure that you do not fall victim to any scams. Process servers are paid by the individual or lawyer who hired them to serve documents to you. If a process server demands money after they serve you papers, or claim that the case will go away if you give them personal or financial information, they most likely are scamming you and are not a legitimate process server. If you have any questions about the lawfulness of the service, make sure to review your state's process serving laws.
It is important to note that if a professional process server is trying to serve you with legal and legitimate documents, that they are a messenger of the court and provide an invaluable service to the justice system. Just a process servers should not scam, harass, or intimidate those who they serve, neither should the servée.
While process serving scams are rare, they do occur as illustrated in the story below:
New Scam Involves Fake Process Servers
CYPRESS CREEK, TX -- The FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center is warning consumers of a phone scam. The scams involve harassing and non-stop calls from people alleging to be collection agents or other legal representatives. Scammers call a target endlessly, demanding immediate payment via credit card or debit card, but refusing to provide details of the alleged delinquent loan or arrest warrant. Disturbingly, in some cases victims have reported that people falsely posing as process servers have shown up at their homes or places of employment, claiming that they were serving papers but telling victims that they could avoid court action by giving the fake process server a debit card number. The FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center believes that the use of fake process servers is an escalation of the original phone scam and urges anyone who is approached in this manner to contact their local law enforcement, credit bureaus, and financial institutions about the matter.
To read the full article, click here.
Other industry news:
Process Service by Facebook
ENGLAND -- A judge in England, Justice Nigel Teare, has ruled that service of process via Facebook be allowed in a commercial dispute. In the case, one of the defendants could not easily be served as it was unclear whether he was still living at his last known address. Attorneys, therefore, applied to send the service via Facebook. Attorneys in the case noted that the defendant was likely actively checking his Facebook page, as he had recently added two new friends to his page.
To read the full article, click here.
Process Servers Barred from Court
PHILIPPINES -- The Supreme Court has prevented two process servers of the court, Christopher Dollente and Eric Borlongan, from testifying in a Senate impeachment trial. The two court process servers were originally slated to appear before the court because they had served a temporary restraining order to Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Pampanga Representative and Former president, and her husband.
To read the full article, click here.
For more process server news highlights, click here to check out the in-the-news archives.