BEWARE OF THE CURRENT BAILIFF SCAM
Cobra Financial Solutions Ltd is regularly contacted by businesses from different parts of the country that have been or about to be scammed by people purporting to be bailiffs, in February alone we have received notification that 3 separate people have fell victim to the scam.
The Plot
The targeted business gets a call from a man. He gives his name and says he is a court bailiff working on behalf of Northampton County Court. He goes on to say:
”We have a warrant, number xxxxxx, and I have been asked to call as there is a bailiff 20 minutes away from you. The debt relates to xyz company who have obtained a county court judgment against you for £x – usually a few thousand pounds.”
“I am telephoning to see if we can resolve this matter now before the bailiff arrives on site, as there will be an extra £2,000 in fees charged at that point.”
“If the bailiff does not get paid in full immediately he will look at removing goods to cover the debt.”
The company at this point usually protest and say they have not had any notification, etc. The man, purporting to be a bailiff, will say he can’t do anything about that now as the other bailiff is on route.
What he usually then says is that if you can do a bank transfer into our protected client account then that will stop the bailiff attending today. Your money is then held safely in the bailiffs client account whilst you complete the paperwork to get this warrant set aside.
The Scam
These people pretend they work for Northampton County Court. Or any other court name they use.
The procedure is somewhat different to how they describe it.
Let’s suppose you did have a judgment against you that you were unaware of. Who would enforce this, and how can you tell if they are genuine? any official company would provide some form of instruction confirmation for example Cobra Financial Solutions Ltd would provide you with confirmation of who we are and a (LOA) letter of authority from our client confirming that all dialogue and payments are to be directed through Cobra.
The Lies
These people are very convincing. They usually:
- give a telephone number for the Northampton bailiff’s office normally (01604) or a mobile number.
- give bank account details that seem genuine,
- give their name and the name of the bailiff attending so you can check them on the bailiff register. certificatedbailiffs.justice.gov.uk/CertificatedBailiffs/
The names are quite often the names of genuine Certificated Enforcement Agents. Please be aware that only Certificated Enforcement Agents are listed on this web site. The County Court Bailiffs are salaried Civil servants who are exempt from holding a certificate so they would not appear on the register.
- give you a warrant number and claim not to have a case number.
No one uses the warrant number generally. There is no way of checking this number other than on the courts own system. They obviously do this to frustrate your efforts to see if they are genuine.
Protect Yourself
Never pay money on a card or by bank transfer without first getting paperwork or some formal confirmation.
Why are they ringing you when the bailiff is only 20 minutes away? The attendance is how they make their money.
If they turn up, which I doubt, then check their identification, on their Business card if indeed they provide this then call their office and ask their office to provide a letterhead from their client confirming their instruction, without the confirmation you are likely being scammed and call the Police to verify it if necessary.
When ever a payment is made to Cobra Financial Solutions Ltd our Bank details will be provided via email from info@cobrafinancial.co.uk or by company letterhead backed up with a (LOA).
