Receiving a Summons for Jury Duty is by U.S. Mail. Some people, however,
have been receiving bogus phone calls from scam artists who want personal
information. Most of us take those summonses for jury duty seriously, but
some folks who may have discarded or ignored their civic duty, or even citizens
who have recently served on a jury, have become victims of a new fraudulent scam.
Someone claiming to be a jury coordinator, calls you at home to
tell you that you have NOT shown up for jury duty. If you protest that you
never received a summons for jury duty, the scammer asks you for your Social
Security number and date of birth, so he or she can "verify the information
and cancel the arrest warrant." If you supply your personal information or
Social Security number, your identity has just been stolen.
The fraud has been reported so far in 11 states, including Oklahoma , Illinois,
Florida, and Colorado . This fraud is particularly insidious because they use intimidation
over the phone to try to bully people into giving information by pretending they
are with the court system. The FBI and the federal court system have issued
nationwide alerts on their web sites, warning consumers about the fraud.
For more information: http://www.fbi.gov/page2/june06/jury_scams060206.htm
OR http://www.snopes.com/crime/fraud/juryduty.asp