May. 1, 2007 - Jury Duty and identity theft

Scam attempts to get your personal information

This scam is not new, but it is real.  The Somerset County Sheriff warns of a telephone scam where the criminal calls your home pretending to be a court official. The criminal informs you in a threatening manner that there is a warrant for your arrest because you failed to show for jury duty.  Somerset County officials will never ask jurors for personal information over the phone.

The caller will claim to be a jury coordinator.  An attempt to gain your confidence by assisting you with the matter will be made. If you protest that you never received a summons for jury duty, the criminal asks for your social security number and date of birth in order to verify the information and cancel the arrest warrant.

Do not give out any information to anyone posing as a member of the jury system.

The FBI and the Federal Court System have issued nationwide alerts on their web sites warning consumers about the fraud.  For more information visit the FBI Web site at www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel05/092805.htm