Full Notification

The holiday season is near. Be Vigilant, Skeptical, & Smart

The Signal Hill Police Department has received recent reports of Signal Hill residents receiving phone calls from scammers. Some residents have reported getting a call from someone who identifies himself as an officer of the court threatening legal action or getting a call referencing appearance before a magistrate or grand jury. The caller will state you failed to report for jury duty and that a warrant is out for your arrest. To clear it up, the caller will tell you he’ll need some information for “verification purposes”—your birth dates, social security number, maybe even a credit card number. This is when you should hang up the phone. It’s a scam.

Jury scams have been around for years, but have seen resurgence in recent months especially during the holidays. As a rule, court officers never ask for confidential information over the phone; they generally correspond with prospective jurors via mail.

The scam’s bold simplicity may be what makes it so effective. Facing the unexpected threat of arrest, victims are caught off guard and may be quick to part with some information to defuse the situation.

The jury scam is a simple variation of the identity-theft ploys. Personal information and good credit have become thieves’ preferred prey, particularly on the Internet. Scammers might tap your information to make a purchase on your credit card, but could just as easily sell your information to the highest bidder on the Internet’s black market.
With enough information, scammers can assume your identity and empty your bank accounts.

Here is an excellent website for information on current scams alerts.

http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/scam-alerts
http://www.consumer.ftc.gov