The San Diego Superior Court has received complaints about individuals trying to scam members of the public by pretending to be court officers or officials.

In two recent examples, individuals have received text messages - one stating that there are overdue Traffic Court fees in their name and if they do not pay the fees in a certain manner, additional action will be taken; and another stating that they have a Family Court hearing scheduled and must attend virtually.

The San Diego Superior Court does not send official notices via text message, and there are often additional red flags in the scam messages that further identify it as a scam - for example, in the recent Family Court text message scam, the message came from an out-of-state area code, the "official notice" had correct court names, logo and addresses, but the watermark on the document was for the Department of Justice.

Scammers can be sophisticated and convincing, frequently changing their tactics. Past scams have included jury duty or warrants.

In one such scam, calls were made by a person identifying themselves as a law enforcement officer. The caller informed the individual about a failure to appear for jury duty. They stated that the individual has been ordered to pay a fee for failing to appear as well as a fine for contempt of court, and a warrant has been issued for their arrest. The scammer then gave the individual a new date to appear for jury duty but stated that they needed to meet first so that they can pay their fine. The scammer instructed the individual to go to a convenience store to get a money order because the Court supposedly does not accept cash, checks or credit cards. Finally, the individual was told to bring the money and meet with the officer at the courthouse. Other individuals were told to report to the Sheriff’s Office, but to meet someone outside the office.

Another previous scam involved calls from someone identifying themselves as a court clerk, telling individuals they had an outstanding warrant fine that needed to be paid in cash. Some individuals were instructed to report to a courthouse and meet a court clerk at a kiosk in the courthouse.

The Court conducts all official correspondence via U.S. mail and will not make telephone calls or send text messages to remedy a court issue or fine.

Text messages or calls like these should be ignored. If scammers persist, they should be reported to local law enforcement agencies.

Additionally, the Court has several payment options available and will never insist that a fine must be paid in cash. In-person cash, credit card or check payments are accepted at the business offices in the courthouses, checks or credit card authorizations can be mailed to the appropriate courthouses and payments can also be made online.