Scam warning: Criminals are posing as judges and threatening people with arrest, feds say

Kayla Jimenez, USA TODAY
Updated ·4 min read

The U.S. District Court and U.S. Attorney’s Office warned the public Monday from falling prey to a reoccurring nationwide scam that involves a threatened arrest for missing jury duty.

The scams happen when criminals who pose as U.S. Marshals or government officials call someone and tell them they will be arrested for not appearing for jury duty unless they pay them a fine, according to a news release Monday from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Middle District of Florida. Once the person agrees, the scammers then "walk them through purchasing a prepaid debit or gift card or making an electronic payment to satisfy the fine."

Chief U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Corrigan and U.S. Attorney Roger B. Handberg said authorities from several Florida counties – including Nassau, Orange, and Pinellas – have heard from multiple victims of the scam. Corrigan and Handberg want to prevent people "from falling prey to such scams."

"Let me be clear: These calls are fraudulent,” Corrigan said. “If you receive a phone call from someone claiming to be a judge or other court official, do not give them your credit card or other financial information."

Anyone who thinks they are a victim of the scam can report it to the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

What to watch out for

According to the news release, the public can watch out for criminals of the jury duty scam who:

  • "May provide convincing information, including about the victim (e.g., addresses, date of birth, etc.), real names of federal judges or court employees, actual court addresses, court phone numbers, and case and badge numbers."

  • "(Imitate) the phone number on the caller ID so that the call falsely appears to originate from a court number or the number of another government agency."

  • "Tell them that they can avoid arrest by paying an immediate fine and walk them through purchasing a prepaid debit or gift card or making an electronic payment to satisfy the 'fine.'"

"In no instance will a court official, U.S. Marshals Service, or other government employee contact someone and demand payment or personal information by phone or email," the news release added.

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What is the importance of jury duty? How often do people miss jury duty?

The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts deems participating in jury duty a civic duty.

"A jury decides the facts of a case in accordance with principles of the law as explained by a judge," its website reads.

According to the latest report from the National Center for State Courts, compared with the 15% of Americans who get summoned for jury duty each year, even fewer serve and less than 5% end up on a jury, the Pew Research Center reported. The report represents about 70% of the U.S. population, the Pew Research Center reported.

'Resurgence' of jury duty scams Impersonating court officials, fake fines

'People are being targeted by phone call, email and messaging scams'

There have been other jury duty-related scams.

An Ohio man recently paid $400 to a scammer after he missed jury duty. An Alaska court system, Connecticut court officials, and Miami officials recently warned residents about similar scams.

"These instances are looking pretty sophisticated, and I think we all know the emails we are all getting out there and the phone calls are becoming more and more sophisticated,” said Miami-Dade Courts Chief Judge Nushin G. Sayfie, the news outlet Local 10 reported.

Juror scams happen when "people are being targeted by phone call, email, and messaging scams threatening them with prosecution for failing to comply with jury service," according to the Federal Judiciary. It is punishable by law "for anyone to falsely represent themselves) as a federal court official," and the federal Judiciary "takes such offenses seriously," its website reads.

"Jury service is one of the most important public services a citizen can perform, and it is a serious matter when scammers attempt to use a citizen’s sense of civic duty to defraud them," Handberg said Monday.

Contact Kayla Jimenez at kjimenez@usatoday.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, at @kaylajjimenez.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jury duty phone scams: How the public can avoid falling prey to fraud