Jury Duty Scam
A variety of methods are used by identity thieves to trick us into revealing our financial information such as Social Security numbers, ATM pin numbers, passwords, etc. If you get any inquiries for your personal financial information, don't give it. Instead, make direct contact with the organization claiming to want it and verify that the request was really from them.
Nature of the Scam
This has been
verified by the FBI. Most of us take summons for jury duty seriously, but enough people skip out on their civic duty that a new and ominous kind of scam 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.
- If you out any of this information, your identity has been stolen.
This scam is particularly dangerous because the thieves use
intimidation over the phone. They bully people into giving information
by pretending they are court employees.
Scam Locations
This scam has been reported in 11 states so far, including Oklahoma, Illinois and Colorado. The FBI and the Federal Court System have issued nationwide alerts on their websites, warning citizens about the fraud.