Jury duty phone scam prompts warning from RI state police
PROVIDENCE — The state police are urging Rhode Islanders not to cooperate with scammers who contact them by phone seeking to collect money for missed jury duty.
The scammers, posing as members of the Rhode Island Division of Sheriffs, instruct their victims to make a payment via MoneyPak cards in order to avoid being charged with a crime for missing jury duty, according to a state police news release.
"The Rhode Island Sheriff's Department will not call and request any money over the phone for any reason," state police Capt. David Bassignani said Saturday in a news release. "If you receive a similar phone call contact the closest State Police Barracks."
State police warn that the telephone scammers can be very convincing, and they often make use of personal information they've gathered on their targeted victims.
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This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Jury duty phone scam prompts warning from Rhode Island police
