THE VERDICT: HANG UP
Don't Fall for Jury Duty Scam
06/02/06
The phone rings, you pick it up, and the caller identifies himself as an officer of the court. He says you failed to report for jury duty and that a warrant is out for your arrest. You say you never received a notice. To clear it up, the caller says he'll need some information for "verification purposes"-your birth date, social security number, maybe even a credit card number.
This is when you should hang up the phone.
It's a scam.
Jury
scams have been around for years, but have
seen a resurgence in recent months. Communities
in more than a dozen states have issued
public warnings about cold calls from people
claiming to be court officials seeking
personal information. As a rule, court
officers never ask for confidential information
over the phone; they generally correspond
with prospective jurors via mail.
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The
scam's bold simplicity may be what makes it so effective. Facing the unexpected threat of arrest, victims are caught off guard and may be quick to part with some information to defuse the situation.
"They get you scared first," says a special agent in the Minneapolis field office who has heard the complaints. "They get people saying, 'Oh my gosh! I'm not a criminal. What's going on?'" That's when the scammer dangles a solution-a
fine, payable by credit card, that will
clear up the problem.
With enough information, scammers can assume your identity and empty your bank accounts.
"It seems like a very simple scam," the agent adds. The trick is putting people on the defensive, then reeling them back in with the promise of a clean slate. "It's kind of ingenious. It's social engineering."
In recent months, communities in Florida,
New York, Minnesota, Illinois, Colorado,
Oregon, California, Virginia, Oklahoma, Arizona,
and New Hampshire reported scams or posted
warnings or press releases on their local
websites. In August, the federal court system
issued a warning on
the scam and urged people to call their local
District Court office if they receive suspicious
calls. In September, the FBI issued a press
release about
jury scams and suggested victims also contact
their local FBI field office.
In March, USA.gov,
the federal government’s information
website, posted details about jury scams
in their Frequently Asked Questions area.
The site reported scores of queries on the
subject from website visitors and callers
seeking information.
The
jury scam is a simple variation of the
identity-theft ploys that have proliferated
in recent years as personal information
and good credit have become thieves' preferred prey, particularly on the Internet. Scammers might tap your information to make a purchase on your credit card, but could just as easily sell your information to the highest bidder on the Internet's black market.
Protecting
yourself is the key: Never give out personal information when you receive an unsolicited phone call.
Resources: Common
Fraud Schemes |
Jury
Fraud Press Release (09/28/05) |
Executive’s
Identity Theft Testimony
