The U.S. Marshals Service is warning the public of a nationwide telephone scam.
Johnna Galik, Jury Administrator for the District of Wyoming, said in an email on Wednesday that the scam involves people claiming to be U.S. Marshals, court officers/personnel or law enforcement officers seeking to collect a fine for failure to report for jury duty.
In order to appear more credible, the scammers may even provide information like badge numbers and the names of actual federal judges and courthouse addresses as well as available bail-bondsmen
In the scam, the victims are told they must pay a fine in order to avoid arrest by paying a fine using a reloadable credit card, and they were urged to place a call and provide their own credit card number to initiate the process.
The U.S. Marshals Service does not call anyone to arrange payment of fines over the phone for failure to appear for jury duty or any other infraction.
The Marshals Service urges the public not to divulge personal or financial information to unknown callers, even if they sound legitimate.
If anyone contacts you claiming that you must pay a fine over the phone for missing jury service, please report the incident to local law enforcement department, or local U.S. Marshals or FBI office.