Juror Identity Theft Scam
There have been reports of unscrupulous individuals posing as representatives of the Office of Jury Administration, or other court officials, in an attempt to obtain confidential personal information to be used for identity theft.

In this scam, an individual pretending to be a jury coordinator calls you and claims that you have failed to respond to a jury summons and that a warrant has been issued for your arrest. When you state that you have never received a summons, the caller will say that he or she will require information for “verification purposes” in order to “cancel the arrest warrant.” At this point, the caller will ask for sensitive information such as social security number, date of birth, and even bank or credit card information.

If you receive such a call, do not give out any sensitive personal information. Hang up immediately and call your local police to report the incident.

If you are concerned that you may have fallen victim to this or any other identity theft scam, please report the incident to the Illinois Attorney General’s Identity Theft Hotline at 1-866-999-5630 (TTY 1-877-844-5491). This hotline is staffed by advocates specially trained to help victims repair their credit, dispute fraudulent debts, and prevent future victimization. You should also contact the Federal Trade Commission’s Identity Theft Hotline at 1-877-438-4338.

Additional information regarding these scams can be found at the following websites:

http://www.fbi.gov/page2/june06/jury_scams060206.htm
http://www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/pressroom/2006_03/20060328.html
http://www.snopes.com/crime/fraud/juryduty.asp

Jury Duty Hoax
In this hoax, you are contacted via text and/or email which says that you are on a jury duty failure to appear list, and that you face a $500 fine and a 30-day prison sentence for failing to appear for jury duty.   You are instructed to call a number to receive a message. The phone numbers to call are 704-319-7259, 704-319-7254, or 704-319-7242. These texts and/or emails are a hoax and should be ignored.