A scammer is impersonating a Westmoreland County common pleas judge after hacking his social media account, police say.
According to the Westmoreland County Sheriff’s Office, Common Pleas Judge Scott Mears Jr. said his personal Meta account was hacked on Sunday.
“Since then, the hacker has impersonated me, posting false claims that a family member has gone into an assisted living facility, leaving behind property for sale and requesting that people wire money for items listed for sale. This story is fraudulent and the items listed do not exist,” Mears said.
Family and friends first alerted Mears of the scam, police said, and he tried to delete the posts before they could cause harm but was blocked out of his account.
“This crime is particularly troubling because the hacker is exploiting the trust that people place in a judge. I want the public to know that I am doing everything within my power to stop this scam and prevent further harm. While this has been deeply frustrating, I remain committed to protecting the public from fraud and ensuring that no one else falls victim to this scheme,” Mears said.
Anyone who receives a friend request or direct message from the account or sees a similar post is asked to reject it and report it to Meta and the police.
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