Listen up Tarrant County: citizens are being contacted aboutbra jury duty scam that has ramped up over the last month, prompting authoritiesbrto release warnings.
The county took more than 30 reports from residentsbrreceiving calls from scammers. The jury services office and the county districtbrattorney's office believe they have only discovered the tip of the iceberg withbrthis scam.
Here's what happening, a man is calling residents andbridentifying himself as Lieutenant Allen with the Sheriff's office, PolicebrDepartment and Constable's office. The caller then informs the resident thatbrthey have failed to report for jury duty and a fine is assessed. The finebrranges from $2,000 to $4,000, and the victim can pay their fine by getting abrGreen Dot money card and giving the caller the numbers over the phone.
This allows the scam artist to receive the money without anybrface-to-face contact.
Tarrant County's Jury Services office would never contact abrperson by phone to pay a fine for failing to appear for jury duty, accordingbrto a release from Commissioner Gary Fickes.
Instead, the office would send a notice before taking anybraction, and if a warrant is issued, there is no warning call or fine payment inbrlieu of jury service.
If a person is contacted about jury duty and the Green Dotbrmoney card scam begins, county officials are urging residents to write down thebrphone number of the caller, refrain form giving out any personal informationbrand contact their local police department immediately.