Have you received a call about missing your call to federal jury duty, and been told you may be arrested as a result if you don’t pay up?
If you have, it’s a scam.
Norfolk Police Chief Charles Stone has issued an advisory about this “jury duty” scam — one of the latest ways scammers are trying to get money out of unsuspecting victims — after a resident was convinced they were facing legitimate legal action.
According to the advisory sent Wednesday, Stone indicated a resident contacted police to report that “a person had called and claimed that they were a sheriff.”
The scam caller “told the resident that they would be arrested for failing to report to federal jury duty unless they paid a fine” and then demanded gift cards “in restitution” to avoid filing of an arrest warrant.
The resident ended up losing $3,400 to the scheme before realizing it was a scam.
“Scammers often target vulnerable individuals, such as the elderly, to exploit them through the purchase of pre-paid gift cards or wire transfers,” Stone said in his advisory.
He noted that once pre-paid gift cards are sent or wire transfers are completed, “it’s extremely hard to recover that money once you realize you’ve fallen victim to a scam.”
Police in Franklin, Bellingham and Medway said they have not received similar complaints about the “jury duty” scam, though Bellingham police said they’ve had reports of scams claiming residents have a warrant out for their arrest if they don’t pay a certain amount of money.
