Potential new scam

Jury Duty Scam is being used by identity thieves to deceive victims into revealing their personal information.

The scammer calls the residence or office number of the victim and identifies themselves as an officer or employee of the local court or jurisdiction. The scammer announces to the victim, that he/she has failed to report for jury duty, and that a bench warrant was issued against them for their arrest. The victim's reaction is one of shock and surprise which places them at an immediate disadvantage, and much more susceptible to the scam. The victim will rightly deny knowledge of any such claim; that no jury duty notification was ever received.

The scammer shifts into high gear, reassuring of the possibility this is all "just a misunderstanding" or "some sort of clerical error" that can all be straightened out on the phone. All they need to do is "verify" their information with a few simple questions. Any reluctance on the victim's part and the scammer will threaten that the failure to provide the information will result in an immediate execution of the arrest warrant. The scammer obtains names, social security numbers, date of birth, and will solicit credit card or bank account numbers claiming these will be used by their credit bureau to "verify" the victim's identity.

Legitimate court employees will never call to solicit information, and would send any official notifications by standard mail delivery. Any person receiving such calls should record the scammer's phone number (If caller ID is available) and immediately report the contact to the local police authorities.