SCAM ALERT: ‘Jury duty’ phone fraud still out there

Thanks to the West Seattleite who just shared this story. They can be very convincing, or intimidating – as learned by the person whose story we published last May – but some may not be aware of this:

I thought that the residents of West Seattle might like to know that there are phone scammers (identity thieves) a’ trolling.

Around 3:30 this afternoon I received a call from someone who claimed that he was a lieutenant with the Seattle police department. He alleged that there was a warrant for my arrest, because (are you ready?) I had failed to show up for jury duty on 15 December after having been mailed a summons on December 2, 2015.

This miscreant tried to get me to give him my credit card number to pay the $800 “fine” which he informed me would be refunded to me when I appeared in court tomorrow at 3:00 PM.

Additionally, he informed me that if I failed to pay today, I would be arrested on the warrant when I appeared AND I would have to spend the New Year’s holiday in jail!

I said that I’d be sure to bring my toothbrush when I appeared tomorrow.

I was, by this time, screaming and profane. “Lt. Fred Burns” then informed me that I was failing to follow a direct order by an officer and that I could be arrested for that and because I was being so uncooperative he was going to send a squad car and the deputies would be executing the warrant immediately.

I said, “Please go for it! I’m going to go get dressed properly for my impending incarceration!” I then hung up on him!

The King County Sheriff’s Office issued a warning back in September, too.

11 Replies to "SCAM ALERT: 'Jury duty' phone fraud still out there"

  • onion December 28, 2015 (10:58 pm)

    Kudos and sympathy to the person who shared this story. You handled it with aplomb, although it probably caused your blood pressure to spike. The ass who subjected you to this hoax deserves to be tarred and feathered.

  • phil dirt December 29, 2015 (4:41 am)

    I received a call on Dec. 24 from these guys. I was told that I was going to be arrested for failure to appear for jury selection. and that the county sheriff was sending a car to my house to take me downtown. There were three people involved in this scam, a guy with a southern accent who identified himself as a US Marshall, Mark Erics, a guy who claimed to be a bail bondsman and some woman who claimed to be a Superior Court representative. They kept me on edge all day calling me on the phone. The phone number they called from was 253 778 3846. I talked to the SPD and they helped me realize it was a scam, so I called them back and let them know that I knew it was a scam. They sounded very, very convincing, but after I called them back and let them know that they would be making a very, very big mistake to come to my house since I was prepared to give them a hot reception. They stopped calling after that. If any of you get a call like this, hang up immediately.

  • LatteRose December 29, 2015 (8:05 am)

    Thanks for the post, and Phil’s comment,too. I just sent this to my mom.

  • WS or bust! December 29, 2015 (8:13 am)

    I had an older cousin who could always tell that the caller did not know her because they would mispronounce her last name. She would say “just a minute I’ll get my husband” and then proceed to put the phone in a nearby drawer. After a while she would get the phone out of the drawer and say “hasn’t my husband talked to you yet? Let me get him again” and put the phone back in the drawer. Eventually the caller would give up!

  • KT December 29, 2015 (9:09 am)

    The old blow the whistle into the phone as hard and long as you can trick works well with this.

  • Salt Spray December 29, 2015 (11:28 am)

    This scam is probably effective when directed at undocumented residents. Not that they would ever be called for jury duty… What they would hear is “Give us your credit card info or we’ll send the police.”

  • Casey December 29, 2015 (12:00 pm)

    Oh if only there was a way to trace phone numbers!

  • crazylady8898 December 29, 2015 (2:23 pm)

    Someone once told me that when you get calls like to start making noises like you are having sex – that leads to an abrupt hang-up pretty quickly.

    haha! I’ve yet to try it, but it does sound like it might be worth a try…

  • Vincent Dakotah Langley December 29, 2015 (5:21 pm)

    …Way to go, shipmate! I can’t believe that scammers are so brazen that they even say that they are the police and all of that other B.S. that they use to intimidate individuals into being duped!

  • CP December 29, 2015 (6:50 pm)

    This happened, to my daughter, right before the start, of the quarter. Same exact tactics only they said she owed back taxes, on a portion of “taxable” tuition aid, she’d received. They told her she would lose all the college credits she’d accumulated and would be kicked out of school and arrested. I looked the number up and it was a legit king county courthouse prefix. They also gave her the number of a an actual KC Sheriff. There have been cases where the scammers hack into the phone systems so the numbers appear legit. We asked them how King County had become the Collection agency for the IRS and then invited them to send an officer out so we could speak with someone in person. Oddly enough, No one ever came.

  • scout 15 December 30, 2015 (5:13 pm)

    The number listed above is now disconnected. LOL.

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