The Jury Duty Scam Strikes Again--& it's More Sophisticated than Ever!

A gentleman almost falls for a sophisticated Jury Duty Scam. Randy, a gentleman from Santa Maria, received a threatening call from authorities who told him that he had missed Federal Jury Duty. At the time, Randy was returning from a grocery shopping trip. The authorities told him that he had to immediately drive from Santa Maria to Santa Barbara to pay $4,500 and that if he didn't, they would ping his location, arrest him and put him in jail. Randy asked if he could stop by his home to put away his perishable groceries but the authorities told him that they would consider that fleeing and that he must drive straight to the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Department! They instructed him to stay on the line with them while he made the hour long drive to Santa Barbara. He was told not to disconnect or mute the call for the entire drive. Randy made it to Santa Barbara, went to his bank, and was able to withdraw the $4,500 that they demanded--even though he told them that it would cause him great hardship. Randy was ready to take the money to the Santa Barbara Sherrif's Department but at that point the 'authorities' told him to take the money to a kiosk and to send the money that way, and then to take the receipt to the Sheriff's Station. Thankfully at that point, Randy realized that he was dealing with scammers. He took the money back to the bank and re-deposited it--and was kind enough to share his story to save others from falling for this scam.