New jury duty scam hits Grant County

EPHRATA — A new scam has made its way into Grant County and the Grant County Sheriff’s Office wants the public to know what to do if they feel they are being victimized by the scam.

The scam involves a person calling and claiming to work for the local court system. The caller then tells the victim they have failed to report for jury duty and a warrant has been issued for the victim’s arrest.

“The victim will often rightly claim they never received the jury duty notification. The scammer then asks the victim for confidential information for ‘verification’ purposes,” stated sheriff’s office spokesman Kyle Foreman. “Specifically, the scammer asks for the victim’s Social Security number, birth date, and sometimes even for credit card numbers and other private information, exactly what the scammer needs to commit identity theft.”

The scam has made its rounds and has been reported in Michigan, Ohio, Texas, Arizona, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Oregon and Washington. The scam is reportedly one of the newer identity theft scams in which scammers attempt to get people to relay their Social Security number, credit card numbers and other personal information over the phone.

“It’s easy to see why this works. The victim is clearly caught off guard, and is understandably upset at the prospect of a warrant being issued for his or her arrest. So, the victim is much less likely to be vigilant about protecting their confidential information,” Foreman pointed out. “In reality, court workers will never call you to ask for Social Security numbers and other private information. In fact, most courts follow up via snail mail and rarely, if ever, call prospective jurors.”

For more information on scam and protection from them, visit www.scambusters.org.

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.