Jury Service Scam

Jury Service Scam: What to Know to Protect Yourself

The Utah State Courts have received several reports of a telephone phone scam involving jury service.

Typically, the scammer will pose as a law enforcement officer and may even use the real name of an officer. The caller ID will look like the call is coming from a law enforcement agency, when it is actually not. The scammer will say the caller has failed to report for jury duty and pressure the caller into paying a fine using pre-paid gift cards, or wiring the money to an unknown account.

What We Won't Do:

We will likely never call you. Jury service communication is typically done by mail.
If we do call, we will never ask for a fine payment over the phone.
We will never have law enforcement contact you about a failure to appear for jury duty.
We will never threaten you over the phone with arrest or jail time.
We will never ask you to pay fines using pre-paid cards, or wire transfer.
We will never ask you to deliver cash or cards to a physical location.

What We Will Do:

We will send a jury qualification form in the mail for you to fill out.
We will send you a jury summons card with specific instructions, including the week you need to serve, and a phone number to use to see if you have been called for duty.
If you fail to appear for jury duty, we will mail you a failure to appear notice.
If you do not respond, we may mail you a summons to appear before a judge for an "order to show cause" hearing.

If you believe that you may have fallen victim to a scam, hang up and file a report with your local law enforcement.