By Sarah Han
If you thought you were pretty clever for pretending you never got your jury duty notice, then found out you were caught for your no-show and ordered to pay a bunch of money because of your “Failure to Appear,” well, you may have been tricked by someone even more clever (and evil) than you.
According to SF Weekly, scammers are contacting people claiming that they have a warrant for not appearing at their court appointed jury duty dates. SF Police say that the callers sound very convincing, with victims’ names, addresses, phone numbers, judge names, and official office locations that seem to make them seem valid. Callers then tell victims that they can do one of three things: turn themselves in, wait for a sheriff’s deputy to pick them up from their home, or clear their warrants via phone payment by loading a specific amount onto a “Green Dot” card. Guess which choice most victims choose?
After the scammers get the card information they need, they tell victims a fake court date that they need to appear at to clear their warrant.
In case you ever get one of these calls, you can hang up knowing this is a scam. The SF Weekly spoke with a spokeswoman for the San Francisco Superior Court who explained that people who don’t appear for jury duty will get a notice in the mail to “call to reschedule or request excuse” for their failure to show.
[Via: SF Weekly; photo via Thinkstock]
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