Warning - Baliff scam experienced on Lancing Business Park

Fraudsters are known to have targeted a business on Lancing Business Park this month and without the business' quick action, the fraudster could have cost them thousands!

The fraudster called the business pretending to be a court bailiff working for the High Court Enforcement Agency, acting on a CCJ against the business. The fraudster had done their research and asked for the MD by name, giving a plausible backstory.

He stated that a verbal agreement had been given 18 months prior for Media works, which was cancelled by phone 48hours later. A claim was made to the court as no written cancellation had been received, no response had been received to correspondence and the business had failed to attend the court hearing.

The fraudster then stated he was on his way and the bailiff would be at the site in the next 25 minutes to take action. The fraudster was clever to not demand money, but merely stated that he had done a credit check on the business and was surprised, as they didn't seem like the type of business to fail to pay a debt. He inferred that he thought this was likely just a misunderstanding and prompted the business to offer to pay the debt to avoid bailiff action. This is a particularly cruel scam considering the pressure businesses have experienced over the last 18 months. The fraudster is relying on businesses second guessing themselves and accepting that things could have been missed through the turmoil of lockdown and with staff working off-site.

Please share this with your staff to protect your organisation from falling foul of this type of scam.