Random Thoughts From Marybeth

Jury Duty Scam

A new (to me) scam has been making the news lately and if the papers reporting the story are any indication, it seems to be a problem in several states across the U.S.

I found more information about it from Snopes:

The scammer calls claiming to work for the local court and claims you've failed to report for jury duty. He tells you that a warrant has been issued for your arrest.

The victim will often rightly claim they never received the jury duty notification. The scammer then asks the victim for confidential information for "verification" purposes.

Specifically, the scammer asks for the victim's Social Security number, birth date, and sometimes even for credit card numbers and other private information — exactly what the scammer needs to commit identity theft.

Most courts only communicate by mail so it is unlikely that court workers will ever call and ask for personal information.

I'm going to assume that most of the people who read my blog would recognize that a phone call like this is a scam but I bet you know someone who isn't quite as savvy so, please, pass along the warning.