While the holiday season is fully underway, that doesn’t mean scammers are taking any time off.
Madison and Rankin counties’ district attorney, Bubba Bramlett, issued a press release on Christmas Eve warning citizens of an ongoing phone scam that “seems to be happening more frequently lately.”
According to Bramlett, scammers are acting as if they are with a local sheriff’s department, district attorney’s office, or county court and telling people on the other end of the line that they missed jury duty summons, and therefore, could be found in contempt of court. The caller will even threaten an arrest warrant before instructing the victim to send money to avoid being handcuffed. The victim is asked to provide bank account information or make a payment through Cash App, PayPal, Venmo, or a wire transfer – something authorities will never ask of a private citizen needed for jury duty.
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“Please be aware that even though these calls appear to be from a local police or sheriff’s department phone number, a law officer or judge will never demand payment from a public member, nor would an officer come to collect money from you,” Bramlett said. “These scammers are using real names, and it appears they have all your correct information, but please don’t fall victim.”
Bramlett said he’s also received reports of scammers asking for other information such as date of birth, Social Security number, and debit or credit card numbers. He added that courts almost exclusively contact individuals about jury duty or missed jury duty by mail, so “please do not fall victim to this phone call or any other scam in which someone you do not know asks for personal information or banking information.”
