JURY DUTY SCAM
Please pass this on to everyone in your email address book.
It is spreading fast so be prepared should you get this call.
Someone calls pretending to be a court official who threateningly says a
warrant has been issued for your arrest because you didn't show up for jury
duty. The caller claims to be a jury coordinator.
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. Sometimes they even
ask for credit card numbers. Give out any of this information and bingo!
Your identity just got stolen.
This scam is particularly insidious because they use intimidation over the
phone to try to bully people into giving information by pretending they're
with the court system.
The FBI and the federal court system have issued nationwide alerts on their
web sites, warning consumers about the fraud.