JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- First Coast News has a scam alert to tell you about: Don’t be fooled if you receive a letter from what appears to be a local attorney saying you owe money. The letter looks legitimate, but it is not.
Eric Block, a personal injury attorney in Jacksonville, says he is furious that someone is using his name to try scam people out of money. It all began earlier this week when a woman called his office saying she had received a letter in the mail.
The fake letter says she will be sued unless she pays between $800 and $950. Block says he told her it was a scam, his office never sent the letter, but then he got three more phone calls from people who got the same letter. Block says he has told the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Bar about the scam, but worries other people may have given the scammer money.
The letter does look legitimate at first, until you start trying to add up the alleged money owed.
"She supposedly owes $800, then on the next page she owes $950 and then it says it will take 3 payments of $200. Three $200 payments doesn't even add up to $800," Block said.
He says though he has only gotten calls about false letters involving his law firm, he doubts he is the only law office being targeted.
So if you get a letter from a law office you’ve never had contact with threatening you to pay up money -- question it. You can call that law office or as Eric Block suggests, alert the sheriff’s office to the scam.