Over the past several days Redlands Police have received five reports of a telephone scam known as the Jury Duty scam, in which a caller informs the intended victim that he or she failed to report for jury duty and a warrant has been issued for their arrest. The caller then asks for personal information including birth date, social security number and even a credit card number in order to clear up the problem.
Redlands Police wish to remind all residents never to provide personal information when you receive an unsolicited phone call. With enough information, scammers can assume your identity and potentially drain your bank account or charge thousands of dollars of purchases to your credit cards.
According to the FBI, jury duty scams have been around for years. Like many scams they see a periodic resurgence along with many other scams, including IRS scams, arrest warrant scams, lottery scams and others. As a rule, court officers never ask for confidential information over the phone and generally correspond with prospective jurors via the mail. In addition, law enforcement and court officers will never ask you to send money to avoid arrest.
Information on common scams is available on the FBI’s website at https://www.fbi.gov/scams-safety. Anyone who believes they may be the victim or intended victim of a scam is asked to contact the Redlands Police Department Investigative Services Bureau at (909) 798-7659.