'Jury Duty' Phone Scammers Demand Money, JeffCo Sheriff Says

JEFFERSON COUNTY, CO – County residents have been reporting "jury scam" phone money extortion attempts, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office said. Anonymous callers have been phoning residents telling them they have a warrant out for their arrest because they missed jury duty. "The caller then asks the victim to purchase green dot cards or other money cards to pay a fine and have the warrant dismissed," the sheriff's office said.

The following methods have been used by scammers, an investigation has revealed:

• Callers have been dropping the name of a real sheriff's office employee, Division Chief Dan Gard.
• Calls use a spoofing technology to appear to be coming from the sheriff's non-emergency number, 303-271-0211.
• The caller asks the victim to send photos of the green dot or money cards to the email address jeffersoncountycivildepartment@gmail.com. This is not a legitimate email address for the sheriff's office, a press release said.

"Law enforcement officers will never solicit payment over the phone and arrest warrants cannot be dismissed by payment. In addition, arrest warrants are typically not issued for persons missing jury duty," the sheriff's office said.

If you receive a call similar to this, or any call from someone claiming to be with law enforcement and asking for payment in the form of green dot cards, Visa gift cards, or other money cards, authorities say you should "end the call and immediately report it to their local law enforcement agency. One suggestion for how to end the scam phone call is to tell the caller to 'call back in a few minutes so I have time to call my local law enforcement agency and verify your request.' It is unlikely they will call back," the sheriff's office said.

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