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For more than a decade, the jury duty scam has remained one of the most successful impostor schemes. Fraudsters not only get a quick payoff but also may gather enough personal details for future identity theft. Have you ever encountered this scam?
How It Works:
It starts with a phone call, and a claim that you face imminent arrest because you didn’t report for jury duty. This call may seem authentic, with your caller ID showing a phone numbers for a courthouse or law enforcement agency, and the con artist citing names of actual police and judges. The aim is to startle you into making the desired response: “What?! I never received a jury duty summons!”
To avoid arrest, the caller says, you can pay a fine (typically requested in the form of a prepaid debit or gift card). And to verify he’s called the correct violator, the swindler asks to confirm your identity by soliciting personal information, including your name, birth date, Social Security number and other ID theft-worthy details.
What You Should Know:
What You Should Do: