Jury scammers are relentless. They sound official, they sound scary; but they’re just cons calling, texting or emailing to say that there is a warrant for your arrest for missing jury duty. They offer up a few details, such as the name of a judge or officer that appear to check out through a basic Google search.  They say that if you pay a fine, you’ll be good. Then the criminals get the victims to purchase a pre-paid credit card to pay to clear the warrant they claim they have. Within minutes, the scammers cash in on the cards and rip-off the worried victims. Be aware that the court never calls, texts or emails to solicit money or personal information. Don’t fall for the bogus claims and report suspicious communications to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/?orgcode=NVEJDC.

Courts are receiving a flood of scam reports that the FTC would like to direct to the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network. Law enforcement can access these reports once the FTC processes them into a consolidated database. At present, these court-related reports appear underreported.

10 things to know to protect yourself from jury scams:

  1. The court or law enforcement will not call you to make payment for a warrant for missing jury duty.
  2. No official court personnel will ask you to meet them on the courthouse steps to make any payment of any kind.
  3. No official representatives of the court will text, call or e-mail to solicit money for any purpose.
  4. The court will not call or email to ask you to make payment for a warrant with a pre-paid credit card.
  5. The court never texts, calls or e-mails people to get personal information such as their social security number.
  6. Those who receive suspicious texts, e-mails or calls asking for money or pre-paid credit cards should not respond and are advised to report them at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/?orgcode=NVEJDC
  7. The court does want you to respond to an official jury summons when you receive one in the mail.
  8. Citizens fulfilling jury service is one of the most important and crucial aspects of our justice system.
  9. Our judges highly respect and value this service and it can be very informative and rewarding for those who serve on juries.
  10. The District Court website has information on jury service; visit https://www.clarkcountycourts.us/ejdc/juror-information/index.html. Those who have received a summons can reschedule jury service online at https://ejuror.clarkcountycourts.us. A jury phone line is also available at 702-455-4472 (callers should remain on the line for the operator).