Jury duty scam targets the elderly
Over the past week phone scammers have been aggressively targeting people in Palm Desert
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department has been receiving calls from victims, most of whom are elderly.
“My advise to people is very specific, number one hang up the phone, number two hang up the phone, number three call the real police,” said Bob Miller. He received a phone call from a scammer who wanted to talk to his wife.
“I don’t know why he asked for that, I’m concerned that he may be targeting the elderly and the widows, we may be old but we’re not stupid,” said Miller.
Miller is so concerned about these scammers he wrote a letter to his neighbors warning them about the scam.
Scammers are calling victims claiming they are with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. The scam artist says the victim has missed jury duty and now has a warrant for their arrest. They then demand money.
“These criminals might ask for a Green Dot Card, they might ask for credit card information, and they might ask for bank information,” said Deputy Armando Munoz with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
These scam artists can be hard to track down.
“A lot of these number that have been reported to us are overseas, a lot of victims have told us that these people have accents from different locations, so it is broad,” said Munoz.
It’s not just the jury duty scam these criminals are running.
“If anyone calls you regarding jury duty, utility serve, or a family member saying they are lost or in jail and you have never heard of them, please just hang up the phone, do not listen to these people,” said Munoz.
No law enforcement or court employee will contact you and ask for financial information or payment in lieu of attending court proceedings, or to make up for failure to appear for jury duty.
If you get a call from a scam artist, you can write down the phone number on your caller ID. After you hang up, call your local police department and tell them what happened.
