Medina County officials are sounding the alarm about a new phone scam that is hitting local voicemail boxes and pretending to be official court business, right down to fake case numbers and a supposed "attorney in charge."
The twist: the voice sounds automated and a bit off, repeatedly pronouncing Medina as "Me-dee-na." County leaders say that a slip-up is a dead giveaway that the call is bogus. They are urging residents to hang up immediately, refuse to share any personal or financial information, and report the scam to the county Scam Squad at 1-877-SCAM-550 (877-722-6550).
According to Cleveland.com, county commissioners shared a screenshot of the voicemail transcript on their Facebook page. The message claims to be from a "Medina County processing server's office" and directs people to call a listed lawyer and reference a specific case number. Officials stress that none of this is legitimate and that the calls have no connection to any real county office or court.
How The Calls Sound
Scammers are leaning on AI voice tools to make these robocalls sound increasingly polished and credible. With voice-cloning technology, crooks can crank out messages that feel local or even familiar, which makes them harder to spot at first listen.
The Federal Communications Commission moved last year to ban AI-generated voices in robocalls, highlighting how serious the problem has become, according to PBS NewsHour. Even so, enforcement takes time, and scams like the one hitting Medina County are still slipping through.
County Advice And Resources
The Medina County Board of Commissioners is telling residents to treat any unsolicited legal-sounding call as suspicious, especially if there is pressure to pay money or share sensitive details. Hang up, do not engage, and never give out bank data, Social Security numbers, or other personal information to someone who calls out of the blue.
The Medina County Prosecutor's office runs a Scam Squad hotline that residents can use to report these incidents. The Scam Squad number is listed on the prosecutor's contact page, which can be found through the Medina County Prosecutor's Office. Officials say reporting these calls helps them track patterns and work with law enforcement to respond more effectively.
How To Protect Yourself
If a call makes your gut say "something's off," trust that feeling. Hang up, then double-check the claim using a phone number you already know or can look up independently. That could mean calling a family member, your bank, or a government office directly, instead of using any number provided by the caller.
Federal guidance warns that scammers may only need a few seconds of your voice to clone it. The FTC recommends asking questions that only the real person or agency would know, refusing any request for payment via gift cards or cryptocurrency, and reporting suspicious calls to the appropriate agency, local law enforcement, or Medina County's Scam Squad.
County leaders say they are keeping an eye on new reports and will work with investigators to see whether certain neighborhoods or phone numbers are being targeted. Anyone who gets one of these messages is encouraged to save the voicemail, note the number that called, and share those details when filing a report.
For official statements, updates, and meeting information from county leadership, residents can visit the Board of Commissioners page at Medina County Commissioners.
