Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office is warning residents of ongoing jury scam phone calls. Recent reports indicate people are being targeted by phone call, email, and messaging scams threatening them with prosecution for failing to comply with jury service. Follow these tips to guard yourself against falling victim to this scam:
• Know that jury duty summons will come by mail, not by phone or email;
• If no jury duty summons is received, then ignore a phone call from anyone claiming to be calling about jury duty;
• Contact a local court clerk’s office using the Florida Courts map at link: https://bit.ly/3TAWgHa to see if there is a valid jury duty issue;
• Never give personal or financial information over the phone to a stranger, especially if the caller acts aggressively;
• Recognize that anyone asking for payments to be made through a gift card is a scammer; and
• Be wary of Caller ID, as this can be spoofed, making a phone call look like it is coming from a real source.
Report suspected jury duty scams in Florida to the local County Clerk’s office using flclerks.com and to local law enforcement. Anyone who encounters a jury duty scam in Florida, or any other type of fraud, can also file a complaint with the Florida Attorney General’s Office online at MyFloridaLegal.com or by calling 1(866) 9NO-SCAM.