State court warns of phone scam

Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court advises the public to be aware of a recently reported phone scam. The scam involves calls that “spoof” or mimic Commonwealth Court’s telephone number and demand payments through PayPal for bail and other expenses for family members allegedly incarcerated.

Commonwealth Court will never request over the phone payment by credit card, gift card, PayPal or any other means of electronic funds transfer for any reason.

Should a person receive a suspicious phone call from any individual claiming to be from the Commonwealth Court demanding money or requesting payment, do not provide any sensitive information or forms of payment of any kind.

Anyone receiving calls of this nature is encouraged to hang up immediately and contact state and/or local police as well as the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, Bureau of Consumer Protection, at 800-441-2555 or scams@attorneygeneral.gov.