[MR] OT:JURY DUTY SCAM

[Becky McEllistrem]

I'm pretty skeptical about most of these announcements as so many of them are bogus but it's a new trick that myself and a couple friends hadn't heard of.  I thought I'd mention it just in case it was a valid report.  As always there's never an absolute need to divulge personal information over the phone to a stranger that calls you but some con artists are so good they take even aware people by surprise.

Rebecca

========================================

> > 
> > 
> >  This is the FBI's webpage on this topic:  <
> >
> http://www.fbi.gov/page2/june06/jury_scams060206.htm>
> > http://www.fbi.gov/page2/june06/jury_scams060206.htm
> > Here is the link for Snopes.com's article on this
> > topic:  <
> > http://www.snopes.com/crime/fraud/juryduty.asp>
> > http://www.snopes.com/crime/fraud/juryduty.asp
> > F.Y.I.
> > 
> > Jury Duty Scam
> > This has been verified by the FBI (their link is also
> > included b elow).

Most of us take
> those
> > summonses for
> > jury duty
> > seriously, but enough people skip out on their civic
> duty,
> > that a new
> > and
> > ominous kind of fraud has surfaced.
> > 
> > The caller claims to be a jury coordinator. If you
> protest
> > that you
> > never
> > received a summons for jury duty, the scammer asks you
> for
> > your Social
> > Security
> > number and date of birth so he or she can verify the
> > information and
> > cancel the
> > arrest warrant. Give out any of this information and
> bingo;
> > your
> > identity was
> > just stolen.
> > 
> > The fraud has been reported so far in 11 states,
> including
> > Florida, New
> > York,
> > Minnesota, Illinois, Colorado, Oregon, California,
> > Virginia, Oklahoma,
> > Arizona,
> > and New Hampshire This (swindle) is particularly
> insidious
> > because they
> > use
> > intimidation over the phone to try to bully people
> into
> > giving
> > information by
> > pretending they are with the court system. The FBI and
> the
> > f ederal
> > court system
> > have issued nationwide alerts on their web sites,
> warning
> > consumers
> > about the
> > fraud.
> >