Greg's Corner

Scam victim led on terrifying goose chase

By Greg Collier

The jury duty scam is one of the more prevalent scams being perpetrated today. Usually, the victim receives a phone call from a scammer posing as local law enforcement. They then tell the victim that the victim has missed jury duty and that they need to pay a fine, or they’ll be arrested. The victim is then instructed to go out and buy gift cards so they can pay the fictitious fine over the phone. Longtime readers will know that the only thing gift cards should be used for are gifts. While we know this to be true, not everyone has gotten the message yet.

A woman from North Carolina recently found this out the hard way. She received a phone call from scammers posing as the federal government and told her that she missed jury duty on a federal jury. The scammers told her that she received a certified letter informing her of being selected for jury duty and that she signed for it. They kept the victim on the phone while she drove to several different convenience stores in the area to purchase prepaid debit cards. When she questioned the method of payment, the scammers told her that this is how everyone pays in court now. She was also told that she was being kept under surveillance, and she couldn’t tell anyone because she was under a ‘federal gag order’.

Before it was all over, she had spent $6000 on prepaid debit cards, before giving the numbers to the scammers. They then informed her to go to the county sheriff’s office to sign some affidavits before letting her off the phone. The scammers may have even had her go to the sheriff’s office as part of a cruel joke because when she had gotten there, their office was closed for the day.

While we can look back at this scam with hindsight, it can be terrifying for people who are caught in the middle of it. However, we can also use hindsight to warn people how not to fall for such a scam. If there was a warrant out for your arrest for skipping jury duty, you would receive a notice in the mail. Law enforcement agencies do not call citizens to threaten them with arrest. Gift cards and prepaid debit cards are the number one sign that something is a scam. This is not how everyone in court pays fines today. Court costs and fines are still paid by traditional means such as cash or credit cards. Lastly, legal gag orders are only issued to people who are involved in a current and ongoing court case. Gag orders are not just issued on random citizens.

If you were to receive a phone call like this, you should hang up and call your local police department at their non-emergency number.