Unfortunately, scammers never quit and are always looking for new ways to steal either your money, your identity and even your property. The Hillsborough County Clerk’s Office has recently been alerted to another type of scam that is making its rounds in the community: jury duty scams.
The scam has a common thread — to intimidate the caller to give out information or to take their money. It begins with a phone call or an email from someone claiming to be a court official. The scammer will then claim that you did not show up for jury duty and now owe a fine, or else you will be subjected to arrest.
“Clerk of Court & Comptroller Cindy Stuart and her office have been educating Hillsborough County residents about these scams [since] we first heard about them last October,” said Peter Masa, Hillsborough County communications and marketing manager. “We have heard that some of these bad actors are impersonating law enforcement and using real judges’ names to add credibility to their scams.”
The callers typically have their victim’s names and sometimes even have identifying personal information.
“They are very aggressive and will try to keep the citizen on the phone, threatening that there are arrest warrants or fines for the victim,” said Masa. “In some cases, the scammer will threaten the victim to get them to purchase a money order, prepaid debit card or gift card. One scammer demanded $450 from the resident.”
According to the website of the Florida Attorney General’s Office, a fine will not be imposed until after an individual appears in court to explain a failure to appear. Most importantly, the clerk’s office and local law enforcement will never call and threaten action or demand payment. The clerk’s office mails nearly 3,000 jury summonses weekly.
“We also would ask the public to educate your family and friends to make them aware of these jury scams,” said Masa. “We have been educating the public with numerous reminders across social media and working with our media partners.”
If you receive a call saying you missed jury duty and owe a fine, never provide any personal information. Also, do not provide any information in response to a jury scam email, and do not click on any links, as they could have malware that will infect your computer. Report any jury scam calls or emails to www.flclerks.com, or you can report fraud and file a complaint through Florida Attorney General’s Office at www.myfloridalegal.com/consumeralert or by calling 1-866-9-NO-SCAM (1-866-966-7226).
