Sustainment Families, According to recent reports from the Charlotte Observer and North Carolina Department of Justice (NCDOJ), scammers are once again trying to use a common jury duty scam to steal money and/or personal financial information from citizens. You may have recently heard about a flaw that exists in Internet Explorer versions 6 through 11 that, if exploited, could compromise your computer system. Microsoft released an update to correct the issue on May 1, 2014 and recommends that anyone using versions 6 through 11 of Internet Explorer apply the update as quickly as possible. If you use one of the affected browsers, we would also recommend changing any passwords used for home banking once the update for Internet Explorer has been installed on your system. In Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Financial Crimes detectives said scammers have been calling residents, claiming to be with the CMPD Warrant Division. “Victims are told a warrant has been issued for them, because they failed to appear for jury duty,” the article stated. According to detectives, the scammers then tell victims to buy MoneyPak cards to pay off the warrant and then meet the caller at police headquarters. But before that happens, the scammers call the victim again and ask for the serial numbers from the back of the MoneyPak cards, which they then use to access the money for themselves. Meanwhile in the Fayetteville area, citizens have received phone calls from a man who claims to be a Cumberland County Sheriff’s Deputy. Similar to the scam in Charlotte-Mecklenburg, the caller is told that you’ll be arrested for failing to appear for jury duty unless you pay a fine immediately. “These calls aren’t legitimate and are trying to scare you into paying money you don’t really owe,” said Attorney General Roy Cooper in a message posted July 9. And this scam is not isolated to North Carolina. The South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs also reported similar activity back in June. Other versions of the jury duty scam include pre-recorded messages vs. live calls, and scare tactics to fool people into providing personal financial information which the scammers can then use to steal money and commit identity theft. To avoid jury duty scams, remember: - No law enforcement agency will ask for personal information or seek payment for fines or fees over the phone or by email. Most court related correspondence takes place through the mail. - Never agree to send money to someone who calls you out of the blue. Many scams ask you to wire money or send it via a Green Dot MoneyPak Card. - Never share personal information, such as your Social Security Number or bank account number, with anyone who contacts you. If you receive one of these calls, immediately hang up and report it to your local police department or file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at ftc.gov/complaint. The FTC places the reported information into a secure consumer fraud database and shares it with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies.
Posted on: Sat, 11 Oct 2014 13:26:56 +0000
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