(Washington D.C.) – Did you get a call claiming you missed jury duty and need to pay? Most jury duty scams start with an “urgent” call from someone claiming to be a U.S. Marshal or an officer from your local police department. To catch you off guard, the caller might already know things about you, like your full name or address. They say you missed jury duty and threaten to arrest you unless you pay a fine using a payment app or cryptocurrency.
Here’s how you know it’s a scam: Real law enforcement will never text or email you an arrest warrant. Even if the caller ID looks like it’s coming from your local police department or the U.S. Marshals, real law enforcement officers won’t call to say they’ll arrest you. And they won’t threaten to arrest you if you hang up. Courts never demand payment over the phone. In fact, no government agency will. Only scammers say you can only pay with a payment app, cryptocurrency, gift cards, or a wire transfer service like Western Union or MoneyGram.
