Official City Release
Reminder to stay alert of court-related scams
Mentioned Entities
Analysis
Overview
The Fort Worth Municipal Court is warning residents about phone scams in which fraudsters impersonate law enforcement and demand payment to resolve fake warrants or missed jury duty.
Public Safety
Governance & Oversight
Insights by Role
Resident
HighHigh significance — major decision, large financial impact, or broad community effectAny call demanding immediate payment for a warrant or missed jury duty — especially requesting gift cards, cryptocurrency, or wire transfers — is a scam. The Fort Worth Municipal Court never collects payments by phone, and visiting a court location will not result in arrest for an outstanding Fort Worth Municipal Court warrant.
Journalist
LowLow significance — routine or procedural itemDirector William Rumuly's on-record statement about the Safe Harbor Court policy offers a concrete news hook. The volume or reported financial harm from these scams in Fort Worth is not disclosed in this release, making that a direct records angle.
Source Text
Open source →Scammers are posing as law enforcement officers and using aggressive or urgent language to demand residents pay “legal fees” to clear a warrant brought about by an outstanding case or missed jury service. These calls do not originate from the Fort Worth Municipal Court and are fraudulent.
Fort Worth Municipal Court staff does not call the public to take payments over the phone. People arriving at the court voluntarily are not arrested for Class C warrants. Scam artists sometimes impersonate government officials to try to add credibility to their scheme.
“Fort Worth is a Safe Harbor Court, meaning residents can always visit a Fort Worth Municipal Court location without fear of arrest for outstanding warrants issued by the Fort Worth Municipal Court,” Director William Rumuly said.
Anyone who has concerns about messages requesting payment should contact Fort Worth Municipal Court via:
Phone: 817-392-6700 (Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.)
Online
Live chat
Tactics used by scammers
Scare tactics, such as claiming a loved one is in danger or a pending arrest if you do not take immediate action.
Asking residents to pay using money transfers, cryptocurrency or gift cards.
Pressure to act immediately.
Calls regarding missed jury duty. There is no cost to have a jury service date reset. If an emergency arises that prevents you from reporting, call 817-392-7633 or email as soon as possible.
Scams via text claiming to be an official court notice for an unpaid toll violation or similar citation. Documents can look official.
To report other suspicious or fraudulent activity, contact the Fort Worth Police Department non-emergency number: 817-392-4222.
Get articles like this in your inbox. Subscribe to City News.
The text and media above are reproduced from the original source for purposes of government transparency and public information under fair use. All content remains the intellectual property of its respective authors and publishers. This reproduction does not imply endorsement by or affiliation with the original publisher. For the authoritative version, please refer to the original source.
Municue is in beta
Tell us what would make press release pages more useful for your workflow.