Jury duty fraud rears its ugly head again - Crawford Ellenbogen

Some fraud schemes refuse to die. Jury duty scams existed long
before phishing, malware and other cybercrime methods became synonymous with
identity theft. Yet just this month, the U.S. Marshals Service issued a fraud
advisory about this old-school con that’s enjoying a resurgence.

Common methods

Here’s how jury duty scams work: Perpetrators posing as court
officers, U.S. Marshals and other members of law enforcement call unsuspecting
victims, warning them that they’re about to be arrested because they haven’t
reported for jury duty. When the targets assert they haven’t been notified that
they’ve been selected, the scammers ask for information to “verify their
records.”

The information the scammers want, of course, is a victim’s
Social Security number and date of birth. Some go a step further and request
bank account information, claiming they need an account routing number and
other details to facilitate the direct deposit of jury checks.

Alternatively, scammers tell victims that they can pay a fine in
lieu of arrest. They request payment via a prepaid debit or gift card and ask
the victim to read the card number over the phone. In some cases, crooks ask
victims to deposit cash into a bitcoin ATM. Both methods ensure that the funds
are unrecoverable once they’re transferred.

Know the facts

The truth is, courts virtually never call prospective jurors —
even those who don’t report as scheduled. Most courts rely on the U.S. postal
system for follow-ups and they never ask for confidential personal information.

Unfortunately, many people are caught off guard by this scam.
Disconcerted to learn that they may be arrested for evading jury duty, even
those who ordinarily would be cautious about providing personal information
over the phone may give the callers what they want.

Remember that the spiel doesn’t matter. What’s important is that bogus jury duty calls are the same as any other telephone scam. You should never give confidential information or transfer funds to unverified callers; even when threatened with arrest.

Report and verify

If you think you’ve been scammed by a con artist posing as a
court or other official, report it to your local FBI office or the Federal
Trade Commission. And if you’re unsure about whether you really do need to
report for jury duty, contact your local courthouse.