Sonoma Co. Sheriff Warns Of Area Scam Involving Missed Jury Duty

SONOMA COUNTY, CA – The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office has received nearly two-dozen reports in the past three days about a telephone scam involving an arrest warrant for missing jury duty, a sheriff's sergeant said.

A person claiming to be "Lt. Vance Berry" calls to tell residents they have a warrant for their arrest because they missed their jury duty summons, Sgt. Michael Raasch said.

The caller says the resident must pay money to avoid arrest and asks for credit card or gift card numbers or a social security number, Raasch said.

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Victims say the caller seems credible and has their name, address, date of birth and phone number, Raasch said.

No one with the name of Vance Berry works for the Sheriff's Office, and law enforcement agencies do not call residents to inform them there is a warrant for their arrest, Raasch said.

Anyone who receives such a call is urged to hang up and report the incident to police, Raasch said.

People claiming to be from the Internal Revenue Service recently have been calling Bay Area residents to demand delinquent taxes, according to law enforcement agencies. The IRS said that is not its policy.

• Also see: 6 Masked Robbers Swipe $15K Of Merchandise From Sonoma Hwy Garden Store: Police

--Bay City News