Scammers are using fake websites in a twist on jury duty scams

Scammers are still pretending to be the police, calling to say you’ve missed jury duty and need to pay. But in a new twist, some scammers are now telling you to visit a website to enter your personal information — all so they can steal it and your money.

It starts with a call that sounds like it’s from an officer in your local police department. (It’s not.) They claim you missed jury duty (you probably didn’t) and will be arrested unless you visit a website to pay a fine (still no).

They send you to a site that looks legitimate, with an official-sounding URL and government-looking seals (all fake). It’ll ask you to enter your birthdate and Social Security number to “look up how much you owe.” It might ask you to pay up to $10,000 in fines on the site, or send you to a “government kiosk” (no such thing) to pay by cryptocurrency. But every bit of this is a scam.

Here’s what to know:

• Real law enforcement officers won’t call to say you’ll be arrested or threaten to arrest you if you hang up. Even if the caller ID looks like it’s coming from your local police department. (Scammers can fake it.)
• Only scammers say you can only pay with cash, gift cards, a payment app, cryptocurrency, or a wire transfer service like Western Union or MoneyGram.

If you get a call like this, hang up. Then tell the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

If you think the call could be real, don’t go to the URL they give you. Instead, look up the court’s real website for jury duty information or call the court directly at a number you know is correct.

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