FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEApril 9, 2018 |
Contact: Kate McGwire |
Beware of Jury Duty Scam
(Boise, ID) – In recent months, residents throughout the Treasure Valley have been targeted with demands for bond money to avoid arrest on fictitious warrants.
A common scam across the country has been the “Jury Duty Scam,” where scam artists are impersonating officers of the court or law enforcement officers and informing potential targets they missed jury duty. Victims of the scam are told they have a warrant for their arrest and must pay a bond to avoid arrest. Such scams may take any form, however, such as paying money to avoid arrest on unpaid tickets to failing to appear for court.
Victims are often told they may pay the bond by purchasing pre-paid money by providing a credit card number to the scam artist. Payments have ranged from hundreds to thousands of dollars. This scam has generally targeted older citizens and the scam artist sounds extremely professional over the phone or on voice mail.
No matter how official a phone call may sound, if you receive requests for personal, financial, or banking information in regards to jury duty, you should hang up and contact law enforcement immediately. It is perfectly acceptable to verify the identity of anyone claiming to be a law enforcement officer by calling the official phone number of your local jurisdiction. No officer of the court will ever contact a citizen demanding a bond and you should never pay anyone making such a request.
For questions pertaining to jury duty, you may call the Jury Commissioner at 208-287-7577 during normal business hours, 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays.