My Family Almost Fell for This Jury Duty Scam That Threatens Victims With Fines and Jail Time

One of the most convincing of all scams is the latest jury subpoena scam. For many, receiving a jury duty notice may be stressful enough, but it’s believable Scams are becoming more common and may defraud you of thousands of dollars.

as a Credit card experts with decades of experienceI have a hard time imagining falling into anything involving withdrawing money from an ATM or Pay a scammer with a gift card. I know Danger signs to watch out forafter all.

More than 560,000 fraud cases were reported to the department Federal Trade Commission Season 3 in 2024 only. credit card and gift card Scamming is the most common type of fraud. When the numbers are so large, it’s easy to forget to put a human face on each victim.

And then it almost happened to my family as well.

Scammer almost cheated my family

One day, while I was at work, my wife called me and she was very worried. She described receiving a call from someone claiming to be a police officer who accused her of missing a jury duty summons. The caller also sent her an official-looking court document.

When she didn’t remember receiving the summons, the “officer” became increasingly angry and threatened her with arrest if she didn’t pay the fine in person.

The man yelled at her and told her to drive directly to the bank, withdraw cash and meet him at the entrance to the city center court or she would be arrested.

When she said she didn’t have an ATM card, he yelled at her and told her to go to the grocery store to buy gift cards with her credit card and deliver them.

When we realized it was a scam

She had been skeptical, but stopped when she was forcefully told to go to court to meet the caller, under threat of arrest.

She realized it was a scam when she told the caller she had to speak with an attorney and the caller threatened her with arrest if she hung up.

She was deeply shaken by the heated phone call with the so-called police officer and a text message image of what appeared to be an authentic legal document.

Not willing to take any chances, I contacted one of the family’s attorneys, who quickly confirmed it was a scam – the forged legal document did not have the judge’s signature.

FTC warning These scams are becoming increasingly commonvictims lost thousands of dollars to jury duty scams.

How we can stay safe in the future

After researching the nature of these scams, we know a few things to look for.

First, law enforcement will never call you and demand money. Arrest warrants are served in person and formal court documents are served by mail. The police will never call and threaten to arrest you if you don’t pay.

If you do miss jury duty and ignore repeated summonses, you may be required to appear before a judge, but you will not be punished until then.

Since the initial incident, we have had more scammers call us and leave voicemails with similar messages about missing jury duty and our obligation to pay a fine immediately or risk arrest.

We are confident that if we had any legitimate legal issues we would be notified by email or receive documentation, so we hang up on these scammers now and delete their voicemails.

If someone calls, texts, or emails you and claims to be law enforcement and demands immediate payment, you can bet it’s a scam.

If you suspect the call may be legitimate, hang up and call the appropriate law enforcement agency using the phone number listed on the agency’s website (not the number provided by the caller).

Because these scammers are so convincing, we are having conversations with our parents and other family members to warn them about these scams and how persuasive the callers can be.

Popular scams to be wary of

The jury duty scam is a scary scam because the caller threatens to arrest you in a way that sounds convincing.

There are many other types Scams are prevalentespecially during the holidays. Here are some common scams people should be aware of:

• False shipping notices. About once a week I get a text saying I have a package that needs to be delivered but the address is incomplete. The text also contains a link to an unfamiliar URL. These scammers are trying to get your private information and get you to download some kind of malware. Don’t click on the link, delete the text and block the number.
• Gift Card Scam. Scammers like to ask for payment using gift cards that are not easily traceable. If someone asks you to pay with a gift card, it’s a clear sign that it’s a scam.
• Robocall and text message scams. These actions can take the form of shipping notices, fake charities, or travel scams offering “free travel.”

Tips for spotting scams

Scammers are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and many people who thought they were being vigilant are now at risk of falling victim.

Here are some red flags to watch out for:

• Demand immediate payment. As with jury duty scams, most scammers want immediate compensation before the victim has a chance to realize it may be a scam or negotiate with someone else. Fines imposed by courts and other government agencies always have a payment deadline and opportunity for appeal.
• Request a gift card. No legitimate business or government agency will ask for payment in the form of a gift card.
• The caller asks you to install an app. There are many scammers out there posing as friendly representatives from companies asking for your help with their software or payment issues. The seemingly helpful caller will direct you to install an app on your phone to solve your problem. If the caller tells you to install software on your device, you know it’s a scam designed to steal your identity and money.
• Unwilling to accept a call back. If someone calls you claiming to be from a government agency, financial institution, or business with which you have an existing relationship, ask for their name and extension and tell them you want to call them back. Their reaction will tell you everything, as scammers will fight back while legitimate callers will understand and wait for your call. Be sure to use a number from a verified source for callbacks, not the number given to you by the caller.

What to do if you are a victim of fraud

If you’re the victim of a scam, it’s not always possible to get your money back, but there are steps you can take.

If you paid with a debit or credit card, you can contact the card issuer to tell them it was a fraudulent charge and ask that the transaction be reversed. You can also try to do this if an unauthorized transfer was made to your bank account, but it’s much more difficult if you authorized it. Unfortunately, cryptocurrency payments are often irreversible.

If you have provided your personal information to scammers, you should visit Identity theft website See what steps you can take, such as monitoring or Freeze your credit. Finally, you should report the scam to the FTC: reportfraud.ftc.gov.