Norfolk Co. Sheriff Warns Of Jury Duty Scam That Cost MA Resident Thousands

MASSACHUSETTS — A Massachusetts resident was scammed out of over $68,000 in a recent scam. Now, law enforcement officials are warning residents of the signs.

The Norfolk County Sheriff's Department issued a news release after it was revealed that a Bourne man was scammed out of $68,700 in what they've called a jury duty scam.

The victim called the Norfolk County Sheriff’s Office on May 2 to report the fraud. He had received numerous calls starting on April 28 from two men who claimed to work for the sheriff’s office, officials said.

They claimed he faced a “contempt of court order” for “failure to appear” for jury duty and would be arrested if he did not pay, they added.

“Please, just hang up on people who make these claims,” said Sheriff McDermott. “No one from our office, or any other law enforcement agency, makes these calls. This is a scam.”

The victim has since filed a report with the Bourne Police Department.

The scammers told the victim he would be arrested if he did not pay the restitution of $68,700, officials said.

"He said they were very intimidating," the news release said. "The man says he transferred the funds at a local convenience store."

The victim shared documents sent to him from the imposters, which included bogus “mobile escort orders” asking for a “verbal sobriety statement” from “US District Court, Inc.” with an address that comes back to a residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., not a federal office.

One document said court and processing fees would be waived if the man paid a bail amount of $30,000. Another document referenced a former U.S. Treasurer, with a misspelling of the word Treasurer.

"Law Enforcement agencies will not contact you with threat to pay a fine under threat of arrest," Bourne police said. "Always be suspicious of anyone contacting you requesting immediate payment. No legitimate organization will ever request you to transfer funds to them in the form of convenience store ATMs, Bitcoin ATMs or pre-loaded gift cards/debit cards."