WEST PALM BEACH, FL (December 18, 2025) – Clerk Mike Caruso has a simple message for Palm Beach County: When in doubt, don’t give your info out.

Clerk Caruso on Tuesday announced a collaborative effort with the State Attorney’s Office and Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office for education, apprehension and prosecution to prevent scammers from targeting people in Palm Beach County.

“These messages try to scare and trick people into thinking they owe money,” Clerk Caruso said during a press conference on Tuesday, December 16. “It’s convincing, too. It’s costly, and it’s fraud.”

Tuesday’s press conference included State Attorney Alexcia Cox, Colonel Talal Masri of the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, and Rich Levy, captain of PBSO’s Volunteer Anti-Scam Task Force. The entire press conference is available on the Clerk’s YouTube channel, youtube.com/ClerkPBC. 

In a growing fraud throughout Palm Beach County and the state, scammers are calling and texting unsuspecting people to trick them into clicking harmful links to pay a traffic ticket by text message or share personal information over the phone to clear a phony warrant for missing jury duty.

Some scammers use more sophisticated schemes, filing phony quit claim deeds and other documents in an attempt to steal people’s homes.

As part of the fraud prevention efforts announced Tuesday, Clerk Caruso introduced three new 30-second public safety announcements focused on three commonly reported scams to the Clerk’s office: Traffic ticket scams, juror summons scams and property fraud.

The PSAs will air on all Palm Beach County televisions stations, cable television and streaming platforms throughout the holidays and through January 2026. The PSAs are also being shared on the Clerk’s social media channels including Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, X, Threads and LinkedIn.

“We feel that a better educated public will lead to less successful scams of our community,” Clerk Caruso said.

Federal statistics underscore the increasing scams in Florida. The Federal Trade Commission ranked Florida as first for fraud reports per 100,000 people in 2024 and reports more than 21,294 Floridians reported scammers impersonating government agencies in the first three quarters of 2025.

The FTC also reports that in 2024, consumers lost approximately $12.5 billion due to fraud, a 25-percent increase in fraud losses reported to the FTC compared with the previous year. Of that $12.5 billion, approximately $2.95 billion was tied to imposter scams, according to the FTC.

The Palm Beach County Clerk’s office started tracking scam calls in June 2025 after noticing an influx of fraud reports. More than 610 people have reported scam calls and texts to the Clerk’s office since that tracking began.

Clerk Caruso encouraged Palm Beach County residents to visit mypalmbeachclerk.com/scams to learn more about how to protect themselves against costly impersonation scams and what to do if they believe they have been a victim of a scam.

He also urged Palm Beach County property owners to sign up for the Clerk’s office free Property Fraud Alert service, where they will receive an email notification any time a document is recorded in Palm Beach County’s official records using their name or address. Sign up for Property Fraud Alert at mypalmbeachclerk.com/PFA.

“Stop the scams,” Clerk Caruso said. “Be alert, be on guard, and when in doubt, don’t give your info out.”

About the Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller, Palm Beach County

The Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller is Palm Beach County’s protector of taxpayer money and public records including marriage licenses, court documents, financial reports and real estate records. Visit www.mypalmbeachclerk.com and find us @ClerkPBC on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, X and Threads.