MT. VERNON – The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office reported over the weekend that several calls were received about an ongoing scam.
The offenders are calling people, telling them they have missed jury duty, and there is a warrant for their arrest. They are requesting financial payment to have the warrant dropped. This is completely untrue and people receiving such calls should hang up and contact the policing agency of jurisdiction where they live to confirm it is fraud.
The sheriff’s office says in modern times, it is a bad practice to follow any instructions from people requesting money, for whatever reason, via phone, internet, or U.S. mail without getting confirmation from a local policing agency. The fraud industry makes over a billion dollars a year from people who do not seek confirmation and fall prey to these scams. So stay alert.
