Consumer alert

[SouthernN'Proud]

Got this on the work email. Thought I'd spread the word to y'all.

From scambusters.com (I think...)

Here's a new twist scammers are using to commit identity theft: the jury duty scam. Here's how it works:

The scammer calls claiming to work for the local court and claims you've failed to report for jury duty. He tells you that a warrant has been issued for your arrest.

The victim will often rightly claim they never received the jury duty notification. The scammer then asks the victim for confidential information for "verification" purposes.

Specifically, the scammer asks for the victim's Social Security number, birth date, and sometimes even for credit card numbers and other private information -- exactly what the scammer needs to commit identity theft.

So far, this jury duty scam has been reported in Michigan, Ohio, Texas, Arizona, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Oregon and Washington state.

It's easy to see why this works. The victim is clearly caught off guard, and is understandably upset at the prospect of a warrant being issued for his or her arrest. So, the victim is much less likely to be vigilant about protecting their confidential information.

In reality, court workers will never call you to ask for social security numbers and other private information. In fact, most courts follow up via snail mail and rarely, if ever, call prospective jurors.

Action: Never give out your Social Security number, credit card numbers or other personal confidential information when you receive a telephone call.

This jury duty scam is the latest in a series of identity theft scams where scammers use the phone to try to get people to reveal their Social Security number, credit card numbers or other personal confidential information.

It doesn't matter *why* they are calling -- all the reasons are just different variants of the same scam.

Protecting yourself is simple: Never give this info out when you receive a phone call.

 

[highwayman]

The scammer calls claiming to work for the local court and claims you've failed to report for jury duty. He tells you that a warrant has been issued for your arrest.

In most if not all cases when a warrant is issued the only warning a person gets is when the shariff shows up with back up. As far as I know there is never a phone call from a county employee...

 

[Professur]

Not qualified for jury duty in any case.

 

[SouthernN'Proud]

But when you're called out of a clear blue sky, you usually don't think of the fact that a court employee wouldn't be calling. They catch you off guard. That's why this one is so successful.

 

[MrBishop]

But when you're called out of a clear blue sky, you usually don't think of the fact that a court employee wouldn't be calling. They catch you off guard. That's why this one is so successful.

That's why most are successful...that, and their targets. Scammers hit seniors most often. People with no access to internet to check these things and far too often, no friends or family to speak of.

Its the scams that walk away with people's retirement money/savings that tick me off the most. Bad enough half the seniors get tossed into retirements facilities by their families (see no evil) and forgotten, then they get screwed every which way but loose. by scammers!