A very good friend of mine was recently reduced to tears by a stranger on the phone. The caller claimed she was in trouble over jury duty and demanded that she show up with cash (credit card payments were not allowed) to the local police station.
Think about that for a moment. Someone deliberately frightened her with the threat of jail, then tried to turn that fear into cash. It makes me angry that a person’s respect for the courts can be used against her this way.
The story is familiar enough now that we ought to recognize it immediately: You missed jury duty. There is a warrant for your arrest. Pay today, or deputies will come for you. The caller may sound official, know your name, age, home address etc and even make the number on your phone appear to belong to a government office.
These are not harmless prank calls. In a Florida federal case, a woman in Sarasota County was told she was in contempt of court for missing jury duty. She withdrew $19,500 and drove to the courthouse, where a Georgia woman met her and collected the cash. That woman pleaded guilty this year to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
In another case, two inmates at a Georgia prison were found guilty in January for their part in a nationwide jury duty scam. Prosecutors said the callers impersonated police officers, threatened arrest and used phone technology to make calls appear to come from local law enforcement. Apparently in Georgia prisons cellphones and tablets are allowed. Investigators documented more than $464,000 in losses from 119 victims. Some victims were told they could not discuss the supposed warrant with anyone.
That’s what happened to my friend. The scammer heard someone in the background, and demanded that she not allow that person to listen in. The scammer also demanded that my friend not hang up. If she did, cops would be at her door with handcuffs. That demand for secrecy tells you much about how the scam works. The caller wants to keep you frightened, hurried and alone. A conversation with a friend, a family member or the real court clerk could break the spell.
I keep thinking about my friend in tears. It is easy, from the comfort of an armchair, to say we would simply hang up. It is harder when someone who sounds authoritative says you could be arrested. We should reserve our contempt for the people making those calls, not for the people they target.
If you get one, end the call. Look up the court or sheriff’s office number yourself and ask whether there is a genuine issue with your jury service. Do not trust the number the caller gives you, or even the number shown on caller ID. Courts warn that scammers can disguise that number and use real officials’ names to sound convincing.
Then tell someone about the call. Report it, too. Shame and silence give these criminals room to find the next person.
Jury service is a civic duty. No one should be made to cry because a scammer has learned how to turn that duty into a threat.
