An old phone scam has been resurrected lately by a growing number of fraudsters. The scam usually begins with a call to the victim in which the scam artist poses as a court official. The scammer tells the victim that they are in trouble because they failed to appear for jury duty. The victim will usually be anxious to resolve the issue, since they typically assume that they just never received a notification in the mail. The scammer the asks for the victim's personal information such as birth date, social security number, and even their credit card number so they can "look up the information." This typically "clears up" the confusion, but the scammer now has all the personal information they need to commit identity theft. The scam has been recently reported in 10 states and the FBI is now warning consumers to beware of this particularly nasty type of fraud. Consumers should remember these tips for avoiding the jury-duty scam (from the scam-education site Snopes.com):
- Court workers will not telephone to say you've missed jury duty or that they are assembling juries and need to pre-screen those who might be selected to serve on them, so dismiss as fraudulent phones call of this nature. About the only time you would hear by telephone (rather than by mail) about anything having to do with jury service would be after you have mailed back your completed questionnaire, and even then only rarely.
- Do not give out bank account, social security, or credit card numbers over the phone if you didn't initiate the call, whether it is to someone trying to sell you something or to someone who claims to be from a bank or government department. If such callers insist upon "verifying" such information with you, have them read the data to you from their notes, with you saying yea or nay to it rather than the other way around.
- Examine your credit card and bank account statements every month, keeping an eye peeled for unauthorized charges. Immediately challenge items you did not approve.
Consumers who believe that they have been victims of this fraud should review their account statements and credit reports for suspicious activity. If such activity is noted, consumer should contact their credit card companies and credit rating agencies. Additionally, the FBI is encouraging victims of this fraud to contact their local FBI office. Local FBI field office telephone numbers can be found in the front of most local telephone directories or on http://tracweb.org/ct/hdzIYNS1uXWu/.
"Source: Telecommunications Research and Action Center.
http://tracweb.org/ct/ydzIYNS1uXWO/"
