Here's a new twist scammers are using to commit identity theft: the jury
duty scam. Here's how it works:

The scammer calls claiming to work for the local court and claims you've
failed to report for jury duty. He tells you that a warrant has been
issued for your arrest.

The victim will often rightly claim they never received the jury duty
notification. The scammer then asks the victim for confidential
information for "verification" purposes.

Specifically, the scammer asks for the victim's Social Security number,
birth date, and sometimes even for credit card numbers and other private
information — exactly what the scammer needs to commit identity theft.

So far, this jury duty scam has been reported in Michigan, Ohio, Texas,
Arizona, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Oregon and Washington state.

It's easy to see why this works. The victim is clearly caught off guard,
and is understandably upset at the prospect of a warrant being issued
for his or her arrest. So, the victim is much less likely to be vigilant
about protecting their confidential information.

In reality, court workers will never call you to ask for social security
numbers and other private information. In fact, most courts follow up
via snail mail and rarely, if ever, call prospective jurors.

Action: Never give out your Social Security number, credit card numbers
or other personal confidential information when you receive a telephone
call.

This jury duty scam is the latest in a series of identity theft scams
where scammers use the phone to try to get people to reveal their Social
Security number, credit card numbers or other personal confidential
information.

It doesn't matter *why* they are calling — all the reasons are just
different variants of the same scam.

Protecting yourself is simple: Never give this info out when you receive
a phone call.

Comments:  True. The text above is a reasonably faithful rendering of
fraud warnings issued by the Better Business Bureau and law enforcement
agencies throughout the U.S. beginning in August 2005.

An FBI statement describes the "jury duty scam" as follows:

The public needs to be aware that individuals identifying themselves as
U.S. court employees have been telephonically contacting citizens and
advising them that they have been selected for jury duty. These
individuals ask to verify names and Social Security numbers, then ask
for credit card numbers. If the request is refused, citizens are then
threatened with fines.
The judicial system does not contact people telephonically and ask for
personal information such as your Social Security number, date of birth
or credit card numbers. If you receive one of these phone calls, do not
provide any personal or confidential information to these individuals.
This is an attempt to steal or to use your identity by obtaining your
name, Social Security number and potentially to apply for credit or
credit cards or other loans in your name. It is an attempt to defraud you.

If you receive such a call, hang up. If you have already been victimized
in this fashion and fear you may have given out personal information to
criminals, contact your local FBI field office immediately.