SCAM ALERT: Con artists impersonating Cobb District Attorney, judges to get your cash

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — The Cobb County District Attorney said con artists are impersonating him and others to get cash.

He said they promise to dismiss cases and expunge records for a fee.

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Channel 2′s Audrey Washington was at the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office, where she learned how the scheme works.

Washington obtained a copy of an actual notice sent out to a defendant in a case. The notice promised the person that her case would be dismissed if she paid a fee. It’s signed by the district attorney and a judge, but here’s the problem: It’s all fake.

At first, the note seems credible. In this case, the con artist wrote to a woman with a misdemeanor charge and offered to dismiss her case if she paid a fee.

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“Flynn Broady, along with honorable Judge Victor Reynolds, have come to an agreement for a NOLO plea bargain,” Attorney Andrew Schwartz read from the letter. “Once my client completed the payments for the court costs and fines, she will then have the opportunity to have the charges expunged from her record.”

Schwartz said he knew right away that the notice wasn’t legit.

“Misdemeanors are handled by the solicitor’s office. Flynn Broady is the District Attorney,” Schwartz said. “Clearly, he wouldn’t have anything to do with this case.”

In a statement sent to Channel 2 Action News, the DA addressed the fraud, writing:

“Attorneys and their clients should be suspicious of emails asking for money to pay court costs and fines in exchange for closing a case and record expungement.”

Schwartz said people can go online and look at who’s been arrested and released and attempt to contact them and attempt to extort, for lack of a better word, money.

It’s unclear how many people were contacted and who is behind the scheme, but the attorney Washington spoke with today said there are things people can do in order to not fall victim.

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