Jury Duty Scam

United States
December 18, 2006 10:50am CST
THIS IS A REAL SCAM, CHECKS OUT ON SNOPES.COM JURY DUTY SCAM This is actually a real one. And it is nice that the person sending it Included the verifying links to prove it. Anyway, what a great scam to get Your social security number, This has been verified on Snopes.com (link listed below) and 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 summons For jury duty seriously, but enough people skip out on their civic duty, that A new and ominous kind of scam has surfaced. Fall for it and your identity could be stolen, reports CBS. In this con, Someone calls pret ending to be a court official who threateningly says a Warrant has been issued for your arrest because you didn't show up for jury Duty. 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 just got stolen. The scam has been reported so far in 11 states, including Oklahoma, Illinois and Colorado. This (scam) is particularly insidious because They use intimidation over the phone to try to bully people into giving Information by pretending they're with the court system. The FBI and the &g t; Federal court system have issued nationwide alerts on their web sites, Warning consumers about the fraud. Check it out here: http://www.snopes.com/crime/fraud/juryduty.asp http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel05/092805.htm
1 person likes this
2 responses
@claudia413 (4280)
• United States
12 Mar 07
This is one I had also checked out some time ago. It's pretty scary when you think about it. No one wants to be arrested for avoiding jury duty, and some people will give out their private information when faced with the threat of jail. I keep wondering where these scammers come up with their ideas. Maybe I just don't have a criminal mind. It would be best if people called the jury duty section at the courthouse and confirmed this, rather than just giving out their info over the phone. The same goes for the bank scams. It always amazes me when I hear that someone has fallen for one of these scams. Thanks for passing on this info, and I hope everyone reads it.
1 person likes this
• United States
14 Mar 07
Hi Claudia, Yeah, and to think that some of these people get a position within the government such as hackers. Thank you for your comment and have a bless day!
1 person likes this
• United States
19 Mar 07
It does make you wonder what they're actually doing while working for the government, doesn't it? Thanks for the Best Response. Have a great day yourself.
1 person likes this
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
23 Dec 06
Thank you for warrning. I hear before about bank scam, and I never respond to banking emails. We all should be aware of it.
1 person likes this
• United States
24 Dec 06
Hi polachicago, Thanks for reading. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!