PAYETTE, Idaho — The Payette County Sheriff's Office on Tuesday said scammers are calling residents and posing as police officers and claiming they need immediate payment, or the recipient will be arrested for failing to appear for jury duty.
Authorities said this is how the scam works:
- Callers are using technology to mimic the Payette County Sheriff's Office phone number, making the call appear legitimate.
- The scammers identify themselves as officers of the department and speak authoritatively to instill fear in the victim.
- Victims are told they have failed to appear for jury duty and must pay a fine immediately to avoid arrest.
- In addition to phone calls, fraudsters are creating fake arrest warrants and emailing them to potential victims. These emails demand payment to avoid arrest.
- The fake warrants claim to be from the United States District Court but are written as if they were from a State Court. The fillable fields on the form are noticeable, making these forms appear fake and not like legitimate warrants.
- Payments are typically demanded through non-traditional and untraceable means such as gift cards, prepaid debit cards, bitcoin, or wire transfers.
"The Payette County Sheriff's Office does not call individuals to demand payment or threaten arrest over the phone. Jury duty notifications and related legal matters are handled through official court channels and will never involve requests for payment via phone," Sheriff Andy Creech said. "If a person misses jury duty, a sheriff's deputy will serve them with a summons that requires them to appear before the court and explain why they missed jury duty. In that court hearing, the judge would decide to impose a fine or a jail sentence for missing jury duty."
Below is an attached example from the Payette County Sheriff's Office showing what one of these fake warrants looks like:
Below is an attached example of what a real warrant would look like from law enforcement:
Police said that if you receive one of these scam calls or email you should, most importantly, not provide any personal information to the person and hang up or delete the email immediately.
You can then report the call or email to the Payette County Sheriff's Office by calling (208) 642-6006 ext. 0.
