COLUMBUS, Ohio — If you get a call from someone claiming to be law enforcement who says that you failed to show up for jury duty and you could be arrested if you don’t pay a fine know this: it's a scam.
“We've had plenty of individuals call us, the numbers have been increasing like crazy,” said Franklin County Municipal Court Jury Commissioner Carmen D'Ippolito.
Nearly one year ago, 10TV reported a scam where criminals were making these phone calls, most often targeting the elderly. But now, D’Ippolito said that scam has evolved and become “brazen.”
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Scammers are now posing as law enforcement officials, in some cases with uniforms and duped phone numbers. They even provide fake case numbers.
“And now we learned today we had a call that they're now using specific judges. Obviously, that's all public record where you can go online and see their courtrooms but we've had specific judges’ names dropped now too, so they're getting a little bit more in-depth with the scamming,” D’Ippolito said.
The scammers call and say you've missed jury duty and need to pay an expensive fine to avoid getting arrested.
Then they have you meet them -- in person -- at a police substation to exchange the money.
"It’s concerning especially a lot of elderly people are really getting drawn into this, because they are worried that they are going to go to jail, they're going to get a fine of some sort,” said D’Ippolito. “I had a gentleman go to the bank, and try to take out $2,000. And the bank teller told him that he needed to double-check with me and I got a phone call from him. And I hate seeing people miss out on money.”
If you or someone you know received a call or are a victim of this scam, call your local police department.