Scott Co. Sheriff Warns of Jury Duty Scam

I have never understood telemarketers who trick me into answering their calls, and then expect that I will trust them enough to do business with them.

Scammers are a different breed altogether.

The Scott County Sheriff's Department is warning folks about the latest scam in which callers pretend to be a sergeant with the sheriff's office, and threaten potential victims with arrest for missing jury duty.

The callee is then instructed to purchase pre-paid money cards and provide the caller with the codes from the cards.

The whole pre-paid money card move should be a big tell that this is a scam, but callers use 563 area code masking, and use the names of Sheriff's Dept. staff that they have retrieved from the internet, which makes the whole thing sound very convincing.

Folks should remember that no government entity ever asks for money over the phone. If someone ever does, ask them to send you something in writing. If a scam caller gets too pushy, just hang up and report the call to your local police.

The police may not be able to do anything, but they can certainly help spread the word about scammers like these guys.