In the past, I've seen several threads about this matter, but I can't find them again. Sorry about a question that has been asked a hundred times before.

I happen to have a bounty of 40 in Whiterun and a bounty of 5 in the Pale. My stats screen tells me that my total bounty is close to 1200. No clue where they come from, how long it's been like this and how to get rid of it.

I'm not worried about those numbers, it's random people starting to assault me: I just came across a bunch of Stendarr folks who directly attacked me. Also, Thalsgar the wanderer now wants my blood (I've seen him slain and stripped naked by bandits some months back. Creepy dude).