Beware of Phony Jury Summons Scam Calls
(Woodland, CA)- December 19, 2014 – Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig is warning residents to be aware of fraudulent telephone calls from people posing as law enforcement or the Yolo County Superior Court claiming that you missed your jury duty summons. In the current scheme, the scammers claim that an arrest warrant has been issued by local law enforcement for missing your jury duty summons, and that you will be arrested unless you immediately pay a fine. The callers sound very official and the scam is very well executed. Recently, numerous concerned Yolo County citizens have contacted the District Attorney’s Fraud Unit to report these scams.
The official sounding “Jury Summons Warrant” is designed to frighten recipients into responding quickly when they are upset and not thinking clearly. As with most scams, the con artists are either trying to scare the victim into “wiring” money or going out to purchase prepaid cards, such as greendot Moneypak reloadable prepaid cards. Scammers are also trying to obtain personal information like a Social Security or Credit Card number. The Yolo County Superior Court will always send citizens a written notification of any violations they might have regarding their jury summons by US mail. The court and local law enforcement never asks for credit card, debit card or prepaid card information over the telephone.
If you get a call like this: 1) Never provide any personal information and never “wire” money or purchase prepaid cards; 2) Verify the identity of the caller by requesting an employee identification number. Also, never hesitate to ask a trusted friend or advisor for help before responding to any such suspicious calls.
According to District Attorney Reisig, “The complexity and frequency of these types of scams has been increasing dramatically over the last several months. Nobody is immune from being targeted by these persistent crooks. The best defense against becoming a victim of scams such as this is knowledge and vigilance.”
For more information about this and other types of scams or to report suspected scams to the Yolo County District Attorney, please call 855-4-YOLO-DA or visit YoloDA.org.
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