For some people, jury duty is a giant hassle that you would rather not deal with. Other people enjoy it and can’t wait to be called. Either way, missing it can come with some real consequences like fines, arrests, or court appearances. If you know the dangers of skipping out on jury duty, the scammers surely do as well. They take advantage of this knowledge to get your money or information. Let’s take a look at how a jury duty scam works.
You get a phone call, email, or text from someone claiming to be from the police department, sheriff, or a court official, but of course they aren’t. This person says you missed jury duty, even though you never got a notice that you were supposed to go. They will tell you there is a warrant out for your arrest and the only way to fix it is to pay a fine. All of this is a lie. Then, if you refuse to pay they threaten you with jail. The scammer might give you a fake sheriff’s badge number or a case number to make it all seem real and try to scare you into giving out sensitive information such as your SSN or date of birth. They can and will use that information to steal your identity. There are some scammers out there who will even text you picture of the supposed warrant to prove they are legit. Others may not ask you for money but instead tell you to go to the Sheriff’s department immediately to pay with the intention of robbing your home once you leave.
Here is how you can tell you are being scammed:
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Courts will never ask for immediate payment over the phone. No government agency will do that.
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Only a scammer will ask you to pay with gift cards, payment apps, crypto, or wire transfer services such as Money Gram or Western Union. If you pay someone in one of these ways, it is very hard to get your money back, most likely you won’t be able to.
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Courts never ask for sensitive information over the phone. If it is legit, they already have that information. Only a scammer will ask for SSN, date of birth, bank information, etc.
If you get a call or email like this hang up and don’t respond. Do not give personal or bank information! To go one step further, call the courthouse yourself to find out if you really missed or if this is a scam (which it most likely always is).
