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I had an unfortunate encounter with someone named "Richard King" claiming to be from Dartford court. He was quite persuasive in his spiel, but I instinctively sensed something was amiss.

So, this chap with a thick Scots accent called me earlier today, on the 8th of June, 2018, trying to pull the same old advertising con. As I run my own business, I was almost swayed, that is until he dropped the bombshell of a £2998 fee. He claimed it was linked to some contract I supposedly signed back in 2014, though he couldn't provide much in the way of specifics. He mentioned something about Brighton County Court and identified himself as Richard King (strangely enough, he's apparently listed on some register, just as others have mentioned). I played for time, acting as if I was keen to follow up with the court, and I've since reported the whole affair to the police through Action Fraud. Can you believe it? 'Richard' has just tried to get in touch with me for the third time - what a persistent little bugger!

I received a call from a chap named Stephen John King who was inquiring about the business proprietor; I run a small home-based enterprise, you see. He claimed to be a certified bailiff associated with Worcester Combined Court. Honestly, he was incredibly persuasive. He had me searching for a ‘register’ online (https://certificatedbailiffs.justice.gov.uk/) to authenticate his credentials. He alleged that a debt of £2987.65 was being pursued by Business Directory UK. ‘Mr King’ stated that this was the fifth occasion he had dealt with a dispute involving this firm, and he could sense my distress and genuine concern, offering to assist in resolving the matter as he suspected it might be a scam. He rattled off numerous details that either pertained to me or seemed uncannily similar. He nearly had me convinced to transfer half the amount to a Worcester Court bank account (Sort Code 09-01-27 A/c no. 42025168 ref BN5490) on the spot, suggesting that this would halt court proceedings, with the rest due by 4:30 pm - just an hour after the call came in. He managed to persuade me enough to even engage with my partner on loudspeaker! At one point, he pretended to converse with someone else to relay a message to ‘court room 5’ about his impending arrival. I was almost swayed by his act, yet something felt off. When he provided his contact number, both my daughter and I took it upon ourselves to investigate independently and quickly realised it was all a ruse. Bless my daughter for swiftly contacting Worcester Court (sharp girl, that one) while I attempted to buy some time by feigning errors with the account details. He did become a tad more insistent - not outright rude, but definitely firmer. The kind lady at the court clarified to my daughter that it was indeed a scam and advised her to hang up. Just before I cut the line, I let him know I was aware of the deception since we had reached out to the Court. Even then, he tried to assert that we must have dialled the wrong place, cautioning me not to trust the woman on the other end as she was mistaken. He maintained his calm demeanour, yet his insistence about bailiffs supposedly descending in the next 72 hours was rather disconcerting. What a palaver!

Beware of an individual posing as a High Court Sheriff, claiming to hail from the Worcester court, going by the name Stephen John King. He'll attempt to persuade you to check a register in order to validate his identity. This conman tried to convince me that I had an outstanding debt of more than £2,900.00. He even suggested that if I forked out the money over the phone, he could persuade the court to keep the paperwork on hold, allowing me to get in touch with them and avoid being registered. Mark my words, it’s a total SCAM! He is nothing more than a highly skilled deceiver. Stay vigilant!