Consumer complaint received 2022-10-29
Company: Block, Inc.
State: WA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
Approx XXXX on XX/XX/22 : received call from ( XXXX ) XXXX. I did not answer. I googled the phone number and it showed up as XXXX XXXX XXXX # XXXX. I then saw that the number left a voicemail. The caller stated they were XXXX XXXX XXXX at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and there were urgent matters that needed to be rectified as soon as possible.They offered a phone number to call back, ( XXXX ) XXXX. I didnt call that number back though, I called the number back that they called from and did, in fact, reach the XXXX Sheriffs office. I was not able to leave a voicemail before I got a call back from the same number. I picked up. 

The person I spoke with transferred me to a XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX. He claimed that I failed to make a court appearance on XXXX XX/XX/XXXX that I was subpoenad for. I told him that I never received a subpoena. He said that on XXXX XX/XX/XXXX, two officers served the subpoena to my residence, and it was signed for by my name. I told them I wasnt there- I wasnt, I was at work that day. He them proceeded to tell me that because I failed to appear, I was now being held in contempt of court and had two charges on my record, a Contempt of Court ( COC ) charge and a Failure to Appear ( FTA ) charge. He said that the subpoena was for my expert testimony in an ongoing investigation. He asked if I was a civil servant. I said yes. He said it was probably related to my work- I have actually been involved in several investigations in my 4 years as a federal employee. I was also notified that due to the sensitivity of the case, I was also under a federal gag order and could not discuss the details of this call or the charges with anyone. He provided me with an option to arrive at the XXXX Courthouse and undergo a signature verification to prove I did not sign for the subpoena. I had to put the funds on hold on a treasury bond in the event that my signature verification showed that I did in fact sign for the subpoena. If it didnt, the funds would be released back to me. The cost for each charge was {$4000.00} ( {$8000.00} total ). 

At one point while he was providing me with these instructions, my partner was sitting at the table and talking to me. The officer asked me if anyone was in the room, and warned me that I was on a recorded line and my phone was being monitored, and if I was talking with someone I would be under violation of the federal gag order. 

He then proceeded to guide me how to deposit the funds onto a treasury bond. He held me on the phone, claiming that they were on a mobile monitoring system. I was not to defy to gag order and use my phone for anything except what he was instructing me. I was instructed to call my bank, merge the call, and increase my cash withdrawal limit. I was then to proceed to a banking institution closeby. I was to let them know my XXXX times to different locations to get money out and deposit it. He had me remove cash and deposit it at a service center. I thought this was going to be at a bail bonds location, but he directed me to XXXX. I did as instructed - I was operating under fear at this point of being arrested. After depositing the funds, he had me read the last 4 digits on each receipt. He then attempted to transfer my case to local authorities in XXXX XXXX, as the XXXX Courthouse he was going to have me show up to do the signature authority was 50 minutes away. 

Upon transferring my case to XXXX XXXX, I received another phone call from XXXX XXXX Sheriff. The number was ( XXXX ) XXXX. That officers name was XXXX XXXX. He was reviewing my case and told me that he also saw an additional charge on there that I defied judges orders ( DJO, he said ). I assumed it because I spoke to my partner about the case. He continued to tell me that the cost for this charge was {$8000.00} and I could surrender myself criminally or civilly. I told him I did not have any more money and was not sure what to do. At this point I did not know what else to do. The officer kept telling me things in a very confusing manner and I never understood fully what was going on. I told him at one point that I wanted an officer to come out to my house, but he then threatened me that I would be arrested and was I sure that was my choice. My step-daughter was home at the time so I opted not. 

After going back and forth for a long time, I finally decided to surrender myself. He asked me to give him my ETA to the XXXX XXXX Courthouse and he dropped the call. I arrived at the Courthouse to locked doors. I then XXXX  the XXXX police for a location and it appeared that the local station was closed on the weekend. As was XXXX XXXX Sheriffs office. The entire length of this process on the phone with the scammers was about 4 hours. 

I drove home and called the XXXX non-violent crimes number to report the incident. They operator confirmed that it was a scam. 

I called my banking institution upon returning home and disputed the charge. 

I now also see that they used a couple other phone numbers. ( XXXX ) XXXX, ( XXXX ) XXXX, and the text messages I received with barcodes to use to deposit the funds came from ( XXXX ) XXXX, and ( XXXX ) XXXX. The cash was deposited via barcodes through XXXX and now know it was done through Cash App services. I have all of the receipts from the transactions, and the barcodes for the accounts I deposited funds onto.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation