Jury scammers target the area

Beware! You may be the target of a juror scam. In the Southern District of Mississippi which includes metro-Jackson and all counties and municipalities along and south of Interstate 20, a number of people have received phone calls and/or emails with threats of prosecution—including fines and jail time—for failing to appear for jury service in federal court.

These calls and emails are fraudulent and are not connected with the U.S. Courts.

Members of the public also are warned about any request to provide confidential information in response to callers or to an email.

The Southern District does not ask for sensitive information such as a Social Security number, driver’s license number, or mother’s maiden name, in a telephone call or email.

“In recent weeks we have seen an increase of impersonators calling the public and using names of actual law enforcement officers and even federal judges informing the public they have missed jury duty and a fine or bond must now be paid,” said 2 Chief Deputy U. S. Marshal Shermaine Sullivan of the Southern District of Mississippi.

Chief Judge Dan Jordan noted that the court regularly sees this type of scam. “The public should know that while jury service is mandatory and important, no one from law enforcement or the courts will contact a juror who fails to appear by phone and demand payment of a fine,” he said. “While the clerk’s office may occasionally reach out to jurors by phone, it never does so to request payment. Such a request is a key indicator that the call is a scam.”

Initial contact between a federal court and a prospective juror will be through the U.S. mail to complete a juror qualification questionnaire (some jurors may subsequently go online to a secure court website to complete that questionnaire.)

Phone contact by federal court officials to potential jurors will never include requests for Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, or any other sensitive information.

If you receive a call asking for this information, or if you have questions, please contact Clerk of Court Arthur Johnston or Chief Deputy U. S. Marshal Shermaine Sullivan at the phone numbers or email addresses above.

To learn more about juror scams, see this U.S. Courts web page. Scammers use many tactics to sound credible.

They sometimes provide information like badge numbers, names of actual law enforcement officers and federal judges, and courthouse addresses. They may even claim that an “arrest warrant” has been issued for you.

If you believe you were a victim of such a scam, you are encouraged to report the incident to your local FBI office.

Here are some things to remember:

• The U.S. Marshals and the U. S. District Court will never ask for credit, debit, or gift card numbers; wire transfer details; or bank routing numbers for any purpose.
• Don’t divulge personal or financial information to unknown callers.
• Report scam phone calls to your local FBI office.
• You can remain anonymous when you report.
• If a scammer provides a court order, authenticate it by calling the clerk of the court’s office of the U.S. District Court in your area and verify the court order given by the caller.