Jury duty scams typically center around creating fear of legal or financial consequences to trick unsuspecting consumers into handing over money, personal information, or both.
What kind of jury duty scams should I watch out for?
Scammers frequently use phone calls, text messages, and emails to pose as law enforcement or court officials.
How do jury duty scams work?
Typically, jury duty scams involve contacting people and falsely claiming that they owe fines for missed jury duty. It is common for the scammers to pose as local law enforcement, including sheriff’s offices.
How do I spot a jury duty scam?
If the scam happens over the phone, a scammer will probably identify themselves as a law enforcement officer or an officer of the court and inform you that you have missed jury duty and now owe a fine. These scammers will typically threaten higher fines or even jail time if you do not comply with their demand for money.
Scammers will likely seek money in the form of cash, gift cards, cryptocurrency, or electronic payment via peer-to-peer cash apps like Venmo or Zelle. They may also seek sensitive personal information from you, pressure you to pay the “fine” the same day, or try to keep you on the phone until they have your money.
No law enforcement agency or court will ever contact you demanding money via phone, text, or email to resolve a missed jury summons.
If you suspect a jury duty scam, do not provide any information. If you’re concerned the call or email may be real, call the court directly at an official phone number that you know is correct to confirm.
What if I do miss jury duty? Will the courts reach out to me?
Failure to appear for jury duty is considered contempt of court and may carry real consequences.
If you are summoned for jury duty and fail to appear as required, you will likely receive an official letter from the court notifying you of your missed service. The letter will be on the official letterhead of the court and may be delivered via registered mail. The notice will say “Failure to Appear Notice.”
What should I do if I can’t appear for my jury duty?
If you gave money to a scammer, contact the company you used to process that payment immediately. Reporting fraud to your bank, credit card company, the company you bought a gift card from, a cryptocurrency exchange, or any other payment processing company, gives you the best chance of reversing it.
