We have become aware of a fraud being perpetrated which involves fraudsters, purporting to be bailiffs with a lawful warrant, attending the premises of an organisation and seeking to seize goods to satisfy an unpaid debt.
The fraudsters have what at face value appears to be a lawful warrant, including details of a genuine debt which may have been obtained through email hacking.The fraudsters rely on an organisation’s concern about avoiding the seizure of goods, not least because of the public nature of such an action and possible reputational damage, to procure an immediate payment from an organisation.
If you find yourself in a similar situation, the best action to take is to immediately contact the party to whom the genuine debt is owed, using your own contact details, rather than those provided by the bailiffs, to ascertain whether they have taken steps to enforce against the unpaid debt. If you are not able to ascertain this, or you have any concern that the bailiffs may not be genuine, you may want to consider contacting the police whilst the bailiffs are still on site.
Genuine bailiffs are unlikely to be perturbed by the police being called, whereas fraudsters are likely to make a sharp exit from the premises. If you need any assistance with this type of situation, including advice on whether a warrant is lawful, or any other matter where you suspect fraud, please do not hesitate to contact any member of our Commercial Litigation Team.
Fraudsters Purporting to be Bailiffs
