Beware of the Jury Scam

Most of us take those summons for jury duty seriously, but enough people skip out on their civic duty, that a new and ominous kind of SCAM has surfaced. Fall for it and your identity could be stolen, reports CBS.

In this SCAM 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. Do not give out any personal information.

The SCAM has been reported so far in 11 states, including Oklahoma, Illinois, and Colorado.

This SCAM is particularly insidious because they use intimidation over the phone to try and 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 websites, warning consumers about the fraud. Contact your police department if it happens to you and if your phone has Caller ID and shows a phone number give this to the authorities.

snopes link: http://www.snopes.com/crime/fraud/juryduty.asp

Scam: Identity thieves trick the unwary into revealing their personal details by telling them they've failed to report for jury duty and warrants for their arrest are being issued.

Status: Real fraud, potential for financial harm unknown.