Jury Duty Scam Used
in Attempt to Obtain Personal Information
The Salt Lake City Police Department
would like to alert the public to a recent scam that has surfaced in
the area of identity theft. This scam has been reported in numerous
states, and appears to be spreading.
The scam involves a person receiving a telephone call from someone
purporting to be a court officer. The caller alleges that the person
they are calling failed to report for jury duty. The caller then
explains that an arrest warrant has been issued for the person.
The targeted victim usually explains that they never received notice
that they were supposed to report for jury duty. The caller then asks
the victim for personal information in order to “cancel” the
arrest warrant. The information they solicit generally includes: date
of birth, social security number and occasionally credit card
numbers.
We would like to remind the public that these pieces of information
are extremely sensitive, and should be strongly guarded. Citizens
should NEVER disseminate personal information unless they
initiated the call.
If there are questions as to the validity of the caller’s claim, we
suggest the person contact the court directly.
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