SARASOTA, Fla. — Sarasota County government leaders have issued a scam alert as the familiar fake jury duty phone calls resurface.
Detectives with the sheriff's office said scammers pretending as deputies or the clerk of court are calling people and telling them they have missed jury duty.
The fraudsters then threaten the person with arrest and tell them they have to pay a fee to avoid that.
The Sarasota County Clerk of Courts issued a public service announcement to warn the general public about the scam calls, saying that the courts would never contact you by phone about jury duty. People won't also get an arrest warrant for missing jury duty.
A scam alert was posted to the Sarasota Police Department's social media pages.
Additionally, neither the court nor local law enforcement will ask people to pay for anything using a gift card, bitcoin or with any codes.
"If someone is asking you for a gift card as payment, cryptocurrency as payment and that you cannot tell anybody about, if you've never met them or they're claiming that there is someone somewhere where they can't get out, these are all red flags," said Sergeant Jason Friday of the Economic Crimes Unit with the sheriff's office.
The court wants to remind people to never give out financial information over the phone. Detectives advise that if you get a suspicious call that is pressurizing you into taking action, first hang up and make a direct call to the agency, business or person to verify.
Here are some important tips county officials say will help people not fall for scam calls:
- Jury summons come in the mail, not by email or phone.
- If no jury summons was received, then ignore phone calls from anyone claiming to be calling about jury duty.
- The Clerk and Comptroller’s office will not contact you by phone for failure to appear for jury duty.
- The Clerk and Comptroller’s office will not phone or email you to request any type of payment for missing jury duty.
- Ignore calls for immediate action because scammers will often try to get you to act before you think by creating a sense of urgency.
- Be wary of relying on Caller ID, as many phone numbers can be “spoofed” making a phone call look like it’s coming from a legitimate source.
- If a caller threatens you, hang up and call 311 immediately.
- Do not give out financial or other personal information over the phone.
"Protecting yourself against phone or email scams is simple: just hang up or do not reply to written communication," officials said in a statement. "Unless you have initiated contact, never give your personal or financial information over the phone."
Anyone unsure about the validity of court-related calls can contact the Clerk and Comptroller's Jury Office at 941-860-8000 for verification. Those who think they may have been a victim of fraud can call 311 for help.