Hidalgo County District Clerk Laura Hinojosa is warning residents to be vigilant about any jury scammers who are targeting people with false jury service claims while threatening arrest for a missed jury summons.
In a news release, the District Clerk’s office said callers are impersonating court officials or law enforcement officers and typically contact random people to try and convince them to pay a fine to avoid arrest for failing to appear at jury duty.
“The scammers will further insist that their victims either pay over the phone with a credit card or bring cash or prepaid credit cards to the courthouse where they arrange to meet them,” the release stated.
In a statement, Hinojosa acknowledged these scams continue to exist and have only become more elaborate over the years making it more difficult for people to quickly identify the fraud.
“We want to ensure the public is aware that the courts or law enforcement will never call anyone to arrange payment of fines over the phone for failure to appear for jury duty, for outstanding warrants, or for any other infraction,” Hinojosa said.
The news release said a court will always send jury summons by mail and will never demand payment or sensitive information over the phone.
“In most cases, a prospective juror who disregards a summons will be contacted by the court clerk’s office and may, in certain circumstances, be ordered to appear before a judge,” the release stated. “A fine may be imposed but not until the court appearance, during which an individual has the opportunity to explain a failure to appear.”
Anyone who believes they might be a victim of such a scam should not provide the requested information or make any payments.
“Further, victims should report the incident to their local police department or law enforcement office immediately,” the release stated.
