Wayne County Sheriff’s Office is warning residents about a recent phone scam targeting jury duty, saying the scammers can be scary and sound convincing.
Callers claim to be representing WCSO and say the recipients missed jury duty and they have a warrant for their arrest.
According to a WCSO news release, scammers pressure victims to pay court fees through a cryptocurrency machine or other “weird” methods and threaten to send officers to arrest them if they don’t pay immediately.
WCSO says government agencies will never ask for payment over the phone, especially with cryptocurrency or gift cards.
If in doubt, WCSO suggests calling Wayne County clerk’s office to confirm that jury duty wasn’t missed. They also urge not to reveal personal details such as Social Security Numbers or bank info.
Scammers can be reported to local authorities, Indiana’s attorney general’s office and the Federal Trade Commission at reportfraud.ftc.gov.
A version of this article appeared in the December 18 2024 print edition of the Western Wayne News.