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(NEXSTAR) – Scammers are now leveraging an American civic duty – jury service – to steal your money, local and federal authorities are warning.
“Did you get a call claiming you missed jury duty and need to pay? Followed by a text or email with official-looking documents saying there’s a warrant out for your arrest? As alarming as these things sound, they’re a scam designed to steal your money,” the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said in a recent news release.
The caller may claim to be a U.S. Marshal or an officer with your city’s police force. The scammer tries to make the call sound as urgent as possible, and may even mention some basic information about the would-be victim, such as a name or address, to sound more legitimate.
To intimidate people into paying a fine for not showing up to the (non-existent) jury selection process, the scammers may threaten to issue an arrest warrant.
“That moment of fear that something terrible had happened was enough to blank my brain,” said one Reddit user, who said his heart “caught in his throat” when he received a phone call from a scammer claiming to be a Harris County sheriff’s deputy. “I’d bet pretending to be police officers makes the scam very effective.”
Warnings at national, local level
It’s not just the FTC warning about jury duty deception – on Thursday morning an Ohio sheriff warned of “ongoing jury duty scams.”
Nexstar’s WJW reports that Geauga County officials say they have had several reports of the scam, with one woman reportedly attempting to pay scammers $9,000 (she was stopped by her bank).
In 2024, the FBI’s Atlanta office issued a similar warning to Georgians about the scam, adding these tips for residents.
- Always be suspicious of unsolicited phone calls.
- Never give money or personal information to someone with whom you don’t have ties and did not initiate contact.
- Trust your instincts: if an unknown caller pressures you, or says things that don’t sound right, hang up.
- If concerns remain about the caller’s claims, verify the information with the appropriate law enforcement agency or court officials.
What to watch for
As convincing as these scammers may sound, there are certain things that real law enforcement officers just don’t do, according to the FTC.
They won’t text or email you an arrest warrant, for instance. They also won’t call and threaten to arrest you – even if the caller ID appears legitimate, remember that it can be spoofed.
Another major red flag, according to the FTC, is a request for money using a payment app, cryptocurrency, a gift card or a wire transfer service, as no government agency will make a demand for payment over the phone.
Anyone who actually does miss jury duty will receive a notice in the mail from the court, not a phone call or text message, the FBI says.
The FTC requests that anyone contacted by a “jury duty” scammer tell the FTC here. There are additional resources for anyone who has already paid a scammer.
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