Don’t Fall for Jury Duty Scam

You receive a phone call, and the caller identifies himself as an officer of the court. He says you failed to report for jury duty and that a warrant is out for your arrest. You deny having received a notice. To clear it up, the caller says, he’ll need some information for “verification purposes” — your birth date, Social Security number, maybe even a credit card number. This is when you should hang up the phone. It’s a scam.

Jury scams such as this have been around for years, but authorities report a resurgence in recent months in numerous states, including Oklahoma. As a rule, court officers never ask for confidential information over the phone; they generally correspond with prospective jurors via mail.

Honest people can be caught off guard when they receive such a call and may be quick to divulge the requested personal information. Don’t do it! With enough information, a scammer can assume your identity and obtain credit using your information. Beware generally of any unsolicited request for personal information.