VALDOSTA — An old scam is winging its way back around the Internet and the phone system, and at least one Lowndes County resident has suffered as a result, the sheriff said.
In the “jury duty” scam, victims are contacted by bogus callers who try to pass themselves off as law enforcement or court officers, warning that the victim has missed a jury duty summons and may face jail time if they don’t pay a fine by giving the caller the card numbers for prepaid debit cards (such as “Green Dot” cards) or routing numbers for bank accounts. The same scam is endemic on the Internet.
“One person in Lowndes County lost $4,000 this way last week,” Sheriff Ashley Paulk said Monday. “They spoofed the phone number, but we think it came from overseas.”
The sheriff’s office doesn’t try to locate missing jurists by phone, Paulk said.
“We don’t operate by phone; we show up at your house,” he said.
On the federal level, the U.S. Marshals Service also said in web postings that they don’t reach out by phone for fines.
The Marshals Service offers the following suggestions for those who think they have been on the wrong end of a phone scam:
— Don’t give financial or personal information (phone numbers, addresses) to an unknown caller.
— Report scam calls to the FBI and the Federal Trade Commission. You can remain anonymous.
— Authenticate the call by calling the clerk of court’s office and verifying any court order claimed by the caller.
Paulk suggested that if someone feels unsure about a phone call demanding payments for jury duty fines, that person should tell the caller to meet them — in the sheriff’s office parking lot.