Jury Duty Scam
They aren't coming to take you away. They're leaving you where you are and cleaning out your bank account.
According to news reports, the jury duty scam is back. From the FBI from 2006:
The phone rings, you pick it up, and the caller identifies himself as an officer of the court. He says you failed to report for jury duty and that a warrant is out for your arrest. You say you never received a notice. To clear it up, the caller says he'll need some information for "verification purposes"-your birth date, social security number, maybe even a credit card number.This is when you should hang up the phone. It's a scam.
Jury scams have been around for years, but have seen a resurgence in recent months. Communities in more than a dozen states have issued public warnings about cold calls from people claiming to be court officials seeking personal information. As a rule, court officers never ask for confidential information over the phone; they generally correspond with prospective jurors via mail.
The scam's bold simplicity may be what makes it so effective. Facing the unexpected threat of arrest, victims are caught off guard and may be quick to part with some information to defuse the situation.
"They get you scared first," says a special agent in the Minneapolis field office who has heard the complaints. "They get people saying, 'Oh my gosh! I'm not a criminal. What's going on?'" That's when the scammer dangles a solution-a fine, payable by credit card, that will clear up the problem.
With enough information, scammers can assume your identity and empty your bank accounts.
"It seems like a very simple scam," the agent adds. The trick is putting people on the defensive, then reeling them back in with the promise of a clean slate. "It's kind of ingenious. It's social engineering."
via Shermer
I recently encountered a door-to-door representative for a home security provider. Pitched the need for a home security system and asked if one existed at the home he questioned (not mine).
Would be a pretty clever way to find out which homes were vulnerable to burglary.
Similar to the jury duty scam, misrepresent ones position to gain information to exploit.
Trust at February 17, 2010 5:33 AM
If it isn't in writing, it never happened.
The last, and as far as I can remember only, scam I ever fell for was a company that replaced my furnace igniter with a "new model" that failed after 18 months. A little research showed that the "new model" was actually for a gas stove, and the correct replacement part was available, online, for about fifty bucks. I replaced it myself, and a certain company whose name is remarkably close to False will never get a dime from me as long as I live.
MarkD at February 17, 2010 6:53 AM
Those door to door home security salesmen are never willing to sell me just the sign.
Pseudonym at February 17, 2010 6:54 AM
Apparently in the state of arizona it is illegal to have a home security system and not advertize the fact.
Apparently its considered entrapment for home invaders
lujlp at February 17, 2010 7:30 AM
Does Arizona also give burglers the right to sue you if they do manage to get passed the security system (advertized or not) and end up breaking thier leg on your carpet?
Sabrina at February 17, 2010 8:44 AM
I don't know about elsewhere, but here in CT, if you're selected for jury duty, they send you a notice in the mail, with instructions to call after a certain time on a certain day, and listen to a recording of various names of those people who are excused. If one of the names is yours, you're excused. If the recording doesn't have your name in it, you go to the courthouse the next day, then sit and wait for them to call you. Or not. Usually you have to sign in. At the end of the day, if you've been picked for a jury, they tell you when and where to report. If not, they thank you for your service and send you home. You also get a small stipend for your time.
Flynne at February 17, 2010 11:47 AM
This is a variation of what Ayn Rand calls "Sanction of the Victim". All the perp has to do is make you feel guilty about something. Once that is done, he has almost full control over you!
Politicians do this all the time when they put forth appeals based on making us feel guilty that we are not doing enough "for the children" or not doing enough to "combat climate change".
David J. at February 17, 2010 9:09 PM
I missed jury duty a couple of years back. I called the court up a few weeks later to find out what to do about contempt of court or whatever trouble I was in. She just asked when it would be convenient for me to reschedule.
smurfy at February 18, 2010 4:09 PM
Leave a comment