Jury Duty Scam Emerges As Scams Increase

According to the FBI, jury scams have existed for years. What happens is that someone will call you, telling you that you have missed jury duty, and then asks for personal information to stop you from getting arrested. But if you give the conman what he wants, you could lose your identity.

What happens is that a scam victim will claim that they never got summoned for jury duty. Then the scam artist will reply that they need to verify that and make sure that it’s the right person. And for this they will need your social security number and birth date.

This scam is years old but as the recession gets worse, more and more conmen seem to be making their ways out of the woodwork. A similar scam to try to gather telephone information has surfaced recently as well. Emails alert unsuspecting victims that their number is being dispersed to telemarketers, and that they have to call a number to be put on the government’s “do not call” registry. When a victim calls, they are asked for information and even a fee to be put on the list.

Identity thieves are extremely adept at piecing a puzzle together in order to create an identity out of yours. Typical protocol for jury duty summons is that you fill out a qualifying questionnaire. Then the courthouse will mail you a summons if you have been picked. Usually, a summons is sent out a couple of weeks before the month that they will serve on jury duty. This has been the procedure for twenty years at the least, and there are obviously no plans to change this.

People legitimately calling you about jury duty will never ever ask for a birth date or a social security number. It is extremely crucial to keep in mind that if you are unsure if you are being scammed or not, you should always verify what they are saying and not give into them, no matter how aggressive. It will be worth it in the long run.

Mallory Megan works for a debt collection agency. She also composes articles on business, finance, consumer spending and collection agencies.