Ticket scammer attempts to collect fake debt

A debt collection scammer recently mimicked a Corpus Christi, Texas, attorney in an attempt to convince a woman that she owed money for unpaid parking tickets, the Caller-Times reports. Allegedly, a fraudster claiming to be criminal defense attorney Chris Iles called a woman and informed her that there were warrants out for her arrest due to "unpaid traffic tickets." However, the call was cut off after the woman lost service in an elevator. Iles later received a call from the woman who used her caller ID to find the return phone number. According to the Better Business Bureau, scams like this are not uncommon and typically involve phone numbers that originate from outside the U.S. Most of the time, callers have a thick, Indian accent. The source reports in a different article that a similar incident occurred last month when someone claiming to be from the Texas Department of Public Safety made calls attempting to collect overdue payments for "red light safety tickets." KFDA-TV explains that the callers threatened an arrest warrant unless the victims provided a credit card, Social Security number and other sensitive information despite the fact that the DPS doesn't oversee traffic fines.