Police: Beware of jury duty scam

Law enforcement officials are warning of a new twist in identity theft: callers posing as U.S. court employees to advise individuals of their arrest warrant for failure to report to jury duty.

According to snopes.com, victims who receive these threats are clearly caught offguard and often protest they have never received mail notification

The callers will ask for information from the victims to "verify" their Social Security numbers, birth dates and credit card numbers. Unwary persons typically want to immediately straighten the matter out and proceed to give the thieves all the information they requested.

The jury duty scam has been reported in nine states with variations on the crime.

The FBI has warned that the judicial system does not contact people by telephone and ask for personal information such as your Social Security number, date of birth or credit card numbers. Those contacted should not provide any personal or confidential information to these individuals.

Snopes.com has listed some warnings on how to avoid falling prey to "Jury Duty Scams":

+Court workers will not telephone to say you've missed jury duty and need to prescreen those who might be selected to serve on them. About the only time you will hear by telephone, not by mail, about any jury duty will be after you've mailed the questionnaire.

+Do not give your bank account, social security or credit card numbers over the phone if you did not initiate the call.

+Examine your credit card and bank account statements every month.

If you've been contacted and have given out personal information, contact your local FBI office. Local FBI field office telephone numbers can be found in the front of your local telephone directory or on www.fbi.gov.