Jury Duty Scam!

Received this and apparently, it is true!



This has been verified by the FBI (their link is also included below). Please pass this on to everyone in your email address book. It is spreading fast so be prepared should you get this call. Most of us take those summonses for jury duty seriously, but enough people skip out on their civic duty, that a new and ominous kind of fraud has surfaced.

The caller claims to be a jury coordinator. If you protest that you never received a summons for jury duty, the scammer asks you for your Social Security number and date of birth so he or she can verify the information and cancel the arrest warrant. Give out any of this information and bingo; your identity was just stolen.

The fraud has been reported so far in 11 states, including Oklahoma , Illinois , and Colorado . This (swindle) is particularly insidious because they use intimidation over the phone to try to bully people into giving information by pretending they are with the court system. The FBI and the federal court system have issued nationwide alerts on their web sites, warning consumers about the fraud.



Check it out here: http://www.fbi.gov/page2/june06/jury_scams060206.htm

And here: http://www.snopescom/crime/fraud/juryduty.asp

Yep! It's true

Unbelievable. Thanks for sharing this information Rhonda. I hadn't heard of this.

Thanks Rhonda. I will not give info like that over the phone. They will just have to come get me if they want it!
Although after my" Halloween" jury duty two yrs ago I believe anything is possible.

Gin wrote:

Thanks Rhonda. I will not give info like that over the phone. They will just have to come get me if they want it!
Although after my" Halloween" jury duty two yrs ago I believe anything is possible.

I know, I can't believe people can still actually be persuaded into giving their social security # out over the phone!! :think: That's about as ignorant as it gets....we live in a society where you have to think about your security at all times; it's just the way it is.

I've already been contacted by the scam artists. It happened about two months ago.
I was told to return a form with my SS#, but I left it blank just in case. The letter said for me to be at the courthouse at 7am. Umm...isn't that a bit too early? :think:
I got calls from a recorded message that said I was to call the number provided to find out when I should be in court. I was curious, so I called the number, but never got a real person.

About two weeks later, I got a call from a lady who said I was in jeopardy and could go to jail for not coming to jury duty...that she was putting name on file, blah, blah, blah. She told me that I was supposed to show up in a city that's a half hour away. That didn't sound right. I asked her name and who her supervisor was and she hung up. My brother is a police officer, so of course I told him and he said there's no way I could be arrested just like that.
So, I called my state government office and explained the situation. I was told that my name was on a list to be contacted, but there was note of my being contacted yet as it wasn't decided that I would be for sure. She told me that my information got into the wrong hands and they'll be investigating. she apologized and told me there's no way I'd go to jail for missing jury duty like that, just as my brother had said.

I had to type up a letter of all that went on from the time of my getting that false notice and during the phone calls, and then mail it to the state for the investigation.

There's no telling of how many people show up in an empty lot, thinking they're to be there for jury duty very early in the morning, and then have someone rob or kidnap them. What a scary thought!


Be safe!

Wow, LM---that's just crazy! I'm glad you got it all straightened out...I can see why you thought it was all legit.

Amy wrote:

Wow, LM---that's just crazy! I'm glad you got it all straightened out...I can see why you thought it was all legit.

Yes, it's very crazy!

I'm glad I got it straightened out, too. If the government wants me for something, they already have my SS#, so I figured someone was playing games.

MattLabMyLove wrote:

Funny you should post this, they just had this on our local news. They also warned of a bunch of other scams as well. I would love to just punch these scammers in the head, lol. Come on man get a life and get a job!

I'd help you punch them! LOL!
I'd even kick them in the neck and punch them in the throat! Okay, I'll calm down. :shy:

why do people make up scams!