- By Tyecha Leonard
- Published 07/23/2008
- Top Stories
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Rating:
Unrated

LUMBERTON — Robeson County Sheriff Ken Sealey is warning residents to be aware of a possible identity theft scam involving a summons for jury duty.
“The fraud has been reported in 11 states so far and the FBI and federal court system have issued nationwide alerts on their Web sites warning consumers about the fraud,” Sealey said. “We have had no reports of the scam reaching Robeson County, but we wanted to put our citizens on alert that the scammers are out there.”
The scam occurs when someone receives a call from an individual claiming to be a jury coordinator, Sealey said.
The caller implies that the person missed jury duty and that a warrant has been issued for that person’s arrest. When the person protests that he or she never received a jury summons, the scammer then asks the person for his or her Social Security number and date of birth so the information can be verified and the arrest warrant canceled.
“In many cases, the caller uses intimidation to bully people into giving information by pretending they are with the court system or law enforcement,” Sealey said. “Under no circumstances should citizens ever give out personal information over the telephone. No legitimate law enforcement officer or court official will ever ask for such information over the telephone.”