Jury Duty Scam Hits Residents Of Middlesex County

MIDDLESEX COUNTY, NJ – The Middlesex County Sheriff's Office is warning residents about a phone scam targeting community members with fake jury duty violations.

Scammers are impersonating sheriff's office personnel and contacting residents, falsely claiming they missed court appearances for jury duty.

The scammers tell victims that arrest warrants have been issued against them and even provide fake warrant numbers to make the scam appear legitimate.

The callers then demand immediate payment of fines to avoid arrest, pressuring residents to pay over the phone.

Officials emphasize that legitimate courts and government agencies never request payment by phone. Additionally, courts never ask potential jurors to provide personal identifying information such as Social Security numbers during phone calls.

Residents who receive suspicious calls should hang up immediately and report the incident to local authorities.

Key indicators of the Jury Duty Scam include, but are not limited to:

• Initial contact from someone claiming to be law enforcement.
• A false claim that you’ve missed jury duty or a court appearance.
• Threaten you need to stay on the phone and make an immediate payment.
• Demand you provide payment in cash, wire transfer or cryptocurrency.

To protect yourself and others from these scams, consider the following:

• DO NOT provide account login information
• Request personal information like your date of birth or social security information to steal your identity.
• DO NOT provide personal information such as date of birth or social security number.
• DO NOT share account activity – Do not any activity or financial account information.
• Block any phone numbers and report the text as junk/spam.

Call 9-1-1 or your local police department if you believe you are being victimized. You can also report scams to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) https://www.ic3.gov.

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