(McKEAN COUNTY, Pennsylvania, October 31, 2025): District Attorney Stephanie Vettenburg-Shaffer reports that her office has received reports from residents who have received telephone calls that purport to be from the McKean County Courthouse but are not. The caller is not actually calling from the courthouse, but the number on the caller ID is the courthouse number. The caller pretends to be calling from a legitimate state or federal government agency.  A County Detective is investigating the recent reports. However, the District Attorney warns residents to be aware that scammers can “spoof” a telephone number or website so that it appears to be from a trusted source causing a fake sense of security in the recipient. “Spoofing” is a well-known type of scam where a scammer disguises their identity to appear as a trusted source to trick a victim into disclosing personal information such as social security numbers or passwords to accounts. Once a scammer gains access to a victim’s information or passwords, they can apply for loans and credit cards or deplete their financial accounts.

The only way to avoid becoming a victim is to be extremely skeptical about any call, text, or email where we are asked for identifying information, banking information, passwords for accounts, or anything else that we would not disclose publicly. Do not give out personal information over the phone or in an email.