Some scams just don’t quit! Despite running for years, this con still successfully uses threatening calls and intimidating emails to scare people into paying up. Jury duty scams have staying power because they prey on a fear of law enforcement. 

How the scam works:  

You answer the phone, and it’s someone claiming to be from your local law enforcement or judicial agency. The caller, who may identify themselves as the local sheriff, tells you that you’ve missed a jury duty summons and could be arrested. They may even claim that a warrant for your arrest has already been issued. The caller may appear to be very legitimate, with caller ID showing a local police phone number and an official-sounding voice on the phone. The caller may even be able to verify your name, address, and date of birth.

The scammer tells you that, fortunately, you can avoid arrest by paying a hefty fine of thousands of dollars. To pay the fine, the scammer asks you to wire money, put cash on a gift card or prepaid debit card and share the PIN, use a digital wallet app or even send cryptocurrency. Of course, the fine and the jury duty summons were never real.

Like most long-running scams, jury duty cons have a few versions, not all of which ask you for money outright. In some cases, the jury duty scam may be used to trick you into providing sensitive, personal information that can be used for identity theft. In another version, scammers use email and allegedly attach your “jury summons” to the message. The file is really malware, and downloading it will infect your computer.

BBB Scam Tracker continues to receive reports of jury duty scams. One person recently reported their experience: "Someone called me pretending to be my county's sheriff saying that I missed a court date for Jury Duty and to avoid a length and costly legal procedure and arrest, I would have to pay $3000. They texted me a fake warrant for my arrest. They knew my full name, my address, my phone number and my date of birth. So they told me to go to Walmart and send a Walmart barcode they texted me...Unfortunately they took $1000 from me, fortunately I wised up to what they were doing...I filed a police report and contacted my bank."

How to avoid jury duty scams:

Be skeptical of urgent, unsolicited emails and calls. Courts do not typically summon people via email, text message, or phone. Unless you are involved in a case and have opted into receiving other types of communications, courts normally communicate through postal mail. If you receive a questionable email with an attachment, do not click on it or download anything.

Do your research. If you ever question whether you need to appear in court, call the appropriate judicial agency and ask. If you receive an email, don’t call the number in the email, as that will likely lead you to the scammer who sent the email. If you receive a call, remember that scammers may be able to spoof a legitimate agency's phone number. To be safe, look for official websites in your jurisdiction and find their phone number on their website to call. Always be on the lookout for fake websites, too.

Ignore threatening calls that require pressure you to act immediately. Scammers try to get you to act before you think by creating a sense of urgency and fear. Don't fall for it.

Beware of requests to pay via wire transfer, prepaid debit or gift cards, digital wallet apps, or cryptocurrency. These payment methods are almost always a sign of fraud because you won't be able to get your money back.

Ask someone for help. BBB’s research shows that asking someone else is an important factor in reducing the chance of being scammed. Ask a family member or friend, “Does this sound right?”
 
For More Information

Learn more about phishing scams at BBB.org/PhishingScam.

If you’ve experienced a jury duty scam, help others avoid the same scam by filing a scam report at BBB.org/ScamTracker.

By Monika Spaulding

With hopes of helping struggling students to reach their full potential, Homestretch is looking for community support as it gets established in Washington County.

Last Thursday evening, the group held a fundraising, informational dinner at Westview Church. During the event, community members heard from the organization’s board about what the group is doing and wants to continue doing in the community.

Maria Burks led the evening, discussing everything from the group’s logo to their mission. She said Homestretch is something that has been on her heart for years, she just wasn’t sure how to get it up and going. That’s when she reached out to others about her vision and the ball started rolling.

The group specifically helps students who are 18 years old, are seniors in high school and do not have a home. She said although those are very specific terms, there is a great need to help students who match those criteria.

“This is a real problem that lives right here in our county,” said Burks. “We have a homeless camp. We have homeless kids.”

She said the goal is to get kids in a home their senior year and help them with life skills, including things like money management. This will allow students to finish high school in a more stable environment, get their high school diploma and be ready for the real world.

Burks said she is someone who wants to find out where God is working already and join there. She has been walking through open doors to make this organization a reality.

“We are in the iron grip of poverty in this area,” she said, adding that there are kids living in sheds, no bed, no water, no electricity.

She said when bad things happen, people seem to ask, “where is God in all of this?”

“God’s weaving a pattern and we all have a part in it,” she said, gesturing to everyone present. She said everyone in attendance has been part of her life in one way or another and bringing everyone together to work on this project is one example of God at work.

Burks reached out to David Miller at Hoosier Uplands about 15 months ago. Her original thought was to have a house where these students could live, but Miller convinced her that it would be too big of an expense and the upkeep, insurance, etc. would be too much. That’s when she turned to the idea of finding host families, people who would be willing to let these students live with them for a school year.

“Sustainability is the key,” said Burks. “Why start something if you can’t keep it going?”

She decided that host families would make the program more sustainable. Often students in this situation are “couch surfers” or kids who go from home-to-home sleeping at friend’s houses, places where they feel comfortable. With Homestretch, those places can become year-long homes for these students.

Hoosier Uplands liked the idea of Homestretch and saw the need, donating $10,000 to get things started, which allowed them to get the 501(c)(3). Burks said after figuring that part out, the question became how can we bring resources to the homes and help them?

Thanks to a fund with the Washington County Community Foundation, the families will receive a $400 stipend every month to help with expenses. They will also give $100 a month to the youth to help with teaching money management. Host families will help get them on their feet, get doctor’s appointments, etc. and give them the care they may not have received in the past.

Burks said WCCF Director Judy Johnson shared with her information she came across that were “rules” to follow to keep yourself out of poverty. The three rules were: graduate from high school, wait to get married until after age 21 and do not have children until you’re married, work a full-time job. Burkes said if these are followed you have a less than 2% chance of living in poverty.

“We want kids to take responsibility for their own life,” said Burks. “Personal decisions trump anything the government will ever do.”

Attendees Thursday evening heard testimonials from West Washington students who were helped by families in the community.

Charles Madden Jr., who was a 7th grader when Burks was the school counselor 10 years ago, was one of the success stories. His dad was arrested at a football game and everyone wanted to make sure Burks talked to him because he’d be so upset. Burks said he was upset, but it was because he didn’t want to blow the good things he had going at school. He was a good kid who didn’t do drugs and alcohol and he wanted to make sure he stayed that way and that he graduated from high school. He needed someone in his corner to support him and his goals.

Madden said coach Phillip Bowsman did a lot of mentoring for him. He got the encouragement and support he needed to graduate. His parents didn’t graduate, making him even more proud of his accomplishment. Now, Madden is getting ready to graduate college from Indiana State in construction management.

“Charles flipped the lens for me,” said Burks. “He was telling me that ‘what I need is support.’”

Another testimonial was a student who didn’t have a place to live or stable environment to grow in. His grades were suffering, and he missed a lot of school. This past school year, he moved in with Coach Jeremy Lowery. He turned his grades from Fs and Ds to As and Bs and only missed one day of school. He graduated and is currently working full time at a factory in Madison.

Robert Chandler is a student who moved in with the Nance family. He said he learned “water can be as thick as blood.
“They were there for me every single day. It has changed my whole life.”

Tracy Smith lost her parents when she was 5 and her sister was 1. They lived with grandparents until she was 17 when her aunt and uncle took over due to the death of her grandparents. It was not a good situation.

She said she met Don and Sherry Elgin through her best friend who was with the Elgin’s all the time. They stepped up and took Smith into their home.

“They were loving and consistent,” she said, adding that two years later, they took her sister in, too. “They gave me a place to be a teen instead of having to grow up too soon.”

These are just a few of the success stories that Homestretch would like to build on in Washington County.

“When we tell people about this, a light comes on in their eyes: they want to give us money or they want a kid,” said Burks.

There is a school committee at West Washington that helps find students who need placement. The committee includes counselors, teachers, coaches and parents. Applications are also on the Homestretch website.

The goal is to get the program going to benefit students at all three county schools.

The organization needs help in many ways and encourages the community to help in whatever way they can: monetarily, providing a home or serving on the organization’s board.

Learn more at homestretch-foundation.org.