Jury Duty Scam

I found this article in a newsletterthat I receive from my county Sherrif's office. It's about a scam being used to obtain your personal information. Beware!! 

Here is how the scam works. You get a call from a person claiming to be from the courthouse. You are told that a warrant is being issued for your arrest for failure to report for jury duty. Of course you have not received a notice to report and you certainly do not want to be arrested.

You explain to the caller that there has been a mistake, and the caller is only too happy to help straighten this out for you. They just need you to verify personal information to match it to their juror information. They ask you for your date of birth, social security number, and maybe even credit card information - everything they need for identity theft. Don't fall for it!

Court staff will not call you for missing jury duty, and they certainly will never ask for personal information. NEVER give out personal information on the telephone to a person you do not personally know.

As a point of interest, Washington County courts work hard to make your jury duty term as painless as possible. The court web site provides a lot of information for potential jurors, and citizens can even respond to jury summonses online. Check it out!

Larry Morris is a loan Officer with Equipoint Financial Network in Newberg, Oregon. He specializes in relocations and Sherwood, Oregon neighborhoods and Yamhill COunty. He is a Board Member of the Sherwood Chamber of Commerce.He can be reached at larry.morris@equipoint.com . His website is www.PDX-Mortgage.com. This material is copy protected 2007 by Larry Morris, Mortgage News that Matters. All Rights Reserved.His opinions do not necessarily represent the views of Equipoint Financial Network.

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