Recently, my dad died. While I was driving back from being sworn in as his executor, I got a call. My father-in-law, who is a very smart man, was at the bank about to take money to some scumball because he thought he was about to be arrested. Yes, the scammers are now impersonating the Courts. I got up at 6:30 am today to pick him up and show up in Court. I intentionally went to the Chief Judge’s courtroom because I wanted to make a scene. Of course, she’s a great judge and told me to sit down, but what I wanted to do was call the media and call out all of the elected officials for not having something in place so elders can call and find out something like this is a scam. The document linked above would not fool an attorney because the Georgia Code uses three-part references to the Code (e.g., title, chapter, section), and this one uses a two-part designation. There are enough other irregularities that an attorney could spot. But I’m convinced that if God hadn’t had my father-in-law stop and call me, someone would have pistol-whipped him and stolen the money. He could have been killed. Although none of us are perfect, and we all need redemption, this is a man who loves God and has helped countless people. He didn’t deserve that. So we were going to do something about it.

Non-lawyers don’t know this, but the history of the Georgia Superior Court is unique. It was the first court in Georgia. It predates both the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals. When Georgia lawyers are sworn in, they don’t go to the Supreme Court. They go to a local Superior Court. I still remember doing that in 1993 after I got my bar results. I put on my best suit and walked into the Bibb County Courthouse, where I was sworn into the bar. The sunlight has just about faded everything on my original bar admission, but I believe I was sworn in by the Hon. Thomas Day Wilcox. For more than 30 years, I’ve been proud to call myself a member of the Georgia Bar. That is why my blood boils when someone impersonates the court to steal from vulnerable older adults. Most of them don’t have a lawyer in the family they can call. Most of them try to make calls like we did last night before I could lay eyes on the document. They can’t find anyone because the government hasn’t set up any way for them to calm their fear by confirming it’s a scam, especially when the spoofed phone number the document originated from looks like its the Sheriff’s Department’s and a follow up phone call comes indicating that if they don’t pay up immediately, they could be arrested any minute and spend at least one night in jail.

While I sat in Court waiting to call out all of the elected officials who could put protections in place, I was practicing my speech. It’s probably best that the Judge never let me give it, but it was going to begin something like this.

“Your honor, I seldom have the honor of appearing in front of a brilliant jurist such as yourself, but I’m certain you know that Superior Court Judges are some of the most powerful officials in the State. They can tell lawyers to go sit down (like I was told to do), and they can put people in jail. Their power is awesome and terrible. They literally hold life and death in their hands as they preside over murder trials. So when someone pretends to be a Superior Court Judge, it’s evil. Your honor, I’m certain you’ve considered the power that’s been entrusted to you. Imagine Matthew McConaughey’s jury speech in “A Time to Kill.” There, he told a racist jury to close their eyes while they heard him describe what someone did to a little girl and, then before he told them to open their eyes he said “now imagine she’s white.” Now, your honor, imagine all of that power you hold and then imagine someone else is trying to impersonate this Court.

In my head, it sounded good, but since I never got to give the speech, I’m writing about it here. I suppose the Judge might have gotten mad. Maybe it would have been unprofessional to call officials out in open court, but in my world, the Courts are sacred. In my world, impersonating the Courts is like throwing animal feces all over a church. It’s something only the lowest of the low would do. 

Although this scam probably isn’t new, it’s the first time I’ve seen something like this in a local community. The scammer pretended to be the local court. They put the fear of God into elders that local law enforcement will come take them to jail if they don’t cash out their bank accounts immediately. So, I am blogging to put all advocates on notice that these scams are out there. They are probably in all of the counties. They may have been here for months, but this is the first time I’ve seen one that said “Superior Court of Whitfield County”. My hope is that they catch the scum and put them in the deepest hole law enforcement can find. Warn your clients.

Here’s the truth. Real law enforcement does not text documents like this. Law enforcement does not take Bitcoin or any of the other payment methods listed in the attached package. They do not accept gift cards or cash cards. When law enforcement comes to the home, they wear uniforms and carry ID. The Social Security website offers these tips:

1. Do not take immediate action. If you receive a communication that causes a strong emotional response, take a deep breath. Hang up or ignore the message. Talk to someone you trust.
2. Do not transfer your money! Do not buy that gift card! Never pay someone who insists that you pay with a gift card, prepaid debit card, Internet currency or cryptocurrency, wire transfer, money transfer, or by mailing cash. Scammers use these forms of payment because they are hard to trace.
3. Be skeptical. If you think a real law enforcement officer is trying to reach you, call your local law enforcement using a non-emergency number to verify. Do not believe scammers who “transfer” your call to an official or who give you a number as proof. Scammers can create fake numbers and identities. Do not trust your caller ID.
4. Be cautious of any contact claiming to be from a government agency or law enforcement telling you about a problem you don’t recognize. Do not provide your personal information, even if the caller has some of your information.
5. Do not click on links or attachments. Block unwanted calls and text messages.