Its Christmastime, but scammers are still hard at work trying to steal your money. Unfortunately, a Johnston County woman is the latest victim of a jury duty scam.
A 57 year-old Clayton woman said she received a phone call last Thursday from someone posing as a Johnston County deputy sheriff. The caller claimed the victim had failed to show up in court for a jury duty summons and a warrant had been issued for her arrest. To nullify the warrant, the victim was instructed to obtain $1,500 in VISA prepaid credit cards, then provide the card numbers to the caller.
The victim purchased the cards at a local business and provided the information as instructed. Only later did she realize she had been the victim of a scam.
The Johnston County Sheriff’s Office says this is a widespread scam and law enforcement will never demand money to retract a warrant. If you receive a suspicious call, contact your nearest law enforcement agency. And if you are ever asked to pay any bill with only pre-paid credit cards, more than likely it is a scam.
In March 2019, deputies said they received a number of calls from citizens reporting the same jury duty scam in Johnston County but there were no reported victims that month. In September 2018, an impersonator pretending to be a Johnston County deputy swindled $2,900 from a Smithfield man in the same jury duty scam.
