Full Notification

The jury duty scam remains one of the most successful multipurpose scams in the fraudsters tool chest. The successful scam artist not only gains a quick payoff, they oftentimes acquire enough personal information to commit identity theft as well.

Typically, the deceptive call is about failing to appear for mandated jury duty. However, some citizens are told they failed to appear in court as a defendant or a witness and as such, they are in contempt of court or have a warrant out for their arrest.

The jury duty scam fraudsters claim to be members of local law enforcement, whether it’s the local police department, the local sheriff’s office or sometimes they even pose as federal agents. The phone call is usually received after normal business hours, which is the first clue it’s a scam. The imposter will claim you are facing imminent arrest because you failed to report for mandated jury duty or failed to appear in court as a witness or defendant as required. Your caller ID will often reflect local telephone numbers consistent with local government telephone numbers and they will use the names of actual local government officials to make the call sound legitimate. They religiously mask their actual caller ID information with an assortment of readily available software applications.

The caller offers the unsuspecting citizen an opportunity to quickly resolve the purported legal dilemma by immediately paying a fine with a debit or gift card. They will then obtain personal information to include their full name, date of birth, Social Security Number, et cetera, to “confirm” their identity which they intend on using for identity theft scams later on.

Unfortunately, many innocent citizens have fallen for this telephone scam coast to coast and it is now resurfacing in the Metro-Atlanta area.

Morgan County residents always receive jury summonses/notices via the U.S. Mail with specific instructions and if by chance a resident fails to appear, a Morgan County Deputy Sheriff will proceed to the residence to personally discuss the issue with the resident.

If you receive a telephone call from someone representing any government entity, immediately ask them for their full name, title/position, supervisor’s name and the agency’s main telephone number before engaging in conversation with them. Then verify their purported identity by contacting that organization directly by telephone, through its official website or request a representative from that agency meet you at your local law enforcement agency.

Remember—Never provide any personal information over the telephone to someone you do not know personally and do not send unidentified individuals money via debit or gift card as a result of a phone call or email.

Residents are encouraged to explore the Federal Trade Commissions website at https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/scam-alerts and subscribe to their scam alert email service.

Instructions:

Remember—Never provide any personal information over the telephone to someone you do not personally know and do not send unidentified individuals money via debit or gift card as a result of a phone call or email.

Residents are encouraged to explore the Federal Trade Commissions website at https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/scam-alerts and subscribe to their scam alert email service.