My dear friend, Myrtle sent me this forwarded message that I felt is worth posting because it's so easy to be scammed this way. I did check it out on Snopes on my own and it's something that's been forwarded around the country since 2005. However, it happens to be true. I figure it's worth the warning to be careful about personal information that you might be coerced into revealing over the phone.
JURY DUTY- DO NOT DELETE WITHOUT READING
This has been verified by the FBI (their link is also included below).
Most of us take those summonses for jury duty seriously,
but enough people skip out on their civic duty that a new
and ominous kind of fraud has surfaced.
The caller claims to be a jury duty coordinator.
If you protest that you never received a summons for jury duty, the scam artist asks you for your Social Security number and date of birth so he or she can verify the information and cancel the arrest warrant.
Give out any of this information and bingo; your identity was just stolen.
The fraud has been reported so far in 11 states, including Oklahoma, Illinois, and Colorado, AZ and more.
This (swindle) is particularly insidious because they use intimidation over the phone to try to bully people into giving information by pretending they are with the court system.
The FBI and the federal court system have issued nationwide alerts on their web sites, warning consumers about the fraud.
Check it out here:
And here:
Good grief. What a tricky scam. Luckily I am over 70 so I know it would be a fraud. No one my age gets a summons in Arkansas.
ReplyDeleteMahalo, Kay, for posting this. I haven't heard about this scam, nor have I ever received a jury notice. DrumMajor
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting this. I have never heard of it and don't believe I would fall for it but I have received a very strong scam call from a person pretending to be a process server. It is a blocked caller and usually I don't pick those up to begin with but we were getting a lot of calls after Ron died so I was answering everything. They had used the obituary information to get a lot of my info and said they were coming to my home with subpoena for my arrest or something like that. Anyway I hung up and researched it online and it is a scam to get you to pay them money to avoid going to court. Crazy world.
ReplyDeleteI got a jury summons in the mail not long ago. It is all done by mail here, so I am not sure whether they could get away with it in this state. Thanks for the heads up, though. I'll go read about it. No reputable agency EVER asks for that information over the phone, but I can just imagine some unsuspecting senior not realizing.
ReplyDeleteWOW.... that sounds like a scam that people might fall for without even thinking. Thanks for the post.
ReplyDeleteI have heard of a lot of scams going around but this is the first time I have heard of this. Thank you for the warning Kay. I am going to let everyone I know about this.
ReplyDeleteGee... if it's not one thing, it's another. What kind of people think about these awful scams? It's horrible. It's good to get these out and about and alert others of these malicious frauds.
ReplyDeleteIt was reported in the news that there's another one going on over here involving someone pretending to be from the electric company! Sheesh!
Deletegood info to know
ReplyDeleteOh, yuck. I had never heard of that one. Thanks a lot. Have a great day too.
ReplyDeleteThanks!!!! This is evil.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the heads up....I'll have to tell my husband because he's usually too patient and friendly with unknown callers like those who do surveys and ask financial questions like where we bank. I had to tell him don't answer.
ReplyDeleteYesterday my husband mentioned to me another scam going on in the islands where a bicyclist will fall down and pretend that you hit him with your car. Then will ask to settle out of court for a price. They will follow you to your ATM if you say you need to withdraw.
L...w
I was just going to do a post about this very thing, but it would be scheduled for a week from now since I already have posts scheduled until then. I was surprised when a zumba friend mentioned that she knew the fellow whose daughter was scammed by this. $500! Good grief!
DeleteThanks indeed, Kay!! The scams never seem to end and it is sad and annoying and scary sometimes!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kay, I will share this info....
ReplyDeleteScammers never give up, do they? We've had endless emails purporting to be from PayPal requesting verification.
ReplyDeleteI hope everyone has caller I.D. It really helps. Usually scammers won't even bother to leave messages if you don't pick up.
ReplyDeleteKay;
ReplyDeleteI have been trying to reach you, sent a couple of emails to different addresses that I have for you. Even left a message on Facebook.
Anyway, I would love to see you all this Fall.
Can't wait!
I have a Dr appointment in October but I think you might be gone by then. Can't remember your dates though.
But just tell me when you're going to be in E.
Luv u
...and "those were the days my friend"
thanks for the reminder...
ReplyDeleteIt's too bad the inventiveness of scammers couldn't be put to better use. There is certainly some brain power going to waste here.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Linda...too bad those people aren't doing something productive, something to help rather than hinder, to heal rather than hurt. I'm glad you checked it out before posting it, because a lot of the notices about scams are also scams themselves. A sad situation but a by-product of easy communication in today's society.
ReplyDeleteK
Thanks, Kay!
ReplyDeleteALOHA from Honolulu
Comfort Spiral
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Thanks for sharing with us...
ReplyDelete