The Federal Trade Commission is warning the public about a resurgence of jury duty scams, now with a digital twist.
Scammers posing as law enforcement officers are calling individuals and falsely claiming they missed jury duty and must pay a fine to avoid arrest. In recent variants, callers direct victims to fake government websites that appear official, complete with seals and legal terminology, to harvest personal information and extract fraudulent payments.
Victims are urged to enter their Social Security number and date of birth to “look up” their fines, then are asked to pay as much as $10,000, sometimes via nonexistent “government kiosks” using cryptocurrency. These threats and payment methods are clear indicators of fraud.
Citizens should know:
• Real law enforcement officers won’t call to threaten to arrest you if you hang up. Even if the caller ID looks like it’s coming from local police department, scammers can fake it.
• Only scammers say you can only pay with cash, gift cards, a payment app, cryptocurrency, or a wire transfer service like Western Union or MoneyGram.
Anyone who receives a call like this should hang up and tell the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
If there’s cause to think the call could be real, don’t go to the URL they give you. Instead, look up the court’s real website for jury duty information or call the court directly from a listed number.
Scammers posing as law enforcement officers are calling individuals and falsely claiming they missed jury duty and must pay a fine to avoid arrest. In recent variants, callers direct victims to fake government websites that appear official, complete with seals and legal terminology, to harvest personal information and extract fraudulent payments.
Victims are urged to enter their Social Security number and date of birth to “look up” their fines, then are asked to pay as much as $10,000, sometimes via nonexistent “government kiosks” using cryptocurrency. These threats and payment methods are clear indicators of fraud.
Citizens should know:
• Real law enforcement officers won’t call to threaten to arrest you if you hang up. Even if the caller ID looks like it’s coming from local police department, scammers can fake it.
• Only scammers say you can only pay with cash, gift cards, a payment app, cryptocurrency, or a wire transfer service like Western Union or MoneyGram.
Anyone who receives a call like this should hang up and tell the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
If there’s cause to think the call could be real, don’t go to the URL they give you. Instead, look up the court’s real website for jury duty information or call the court directly from a listed number.
