{"id":507743,"date":"2026-01-11T04:47:30","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T04:47:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/507743\/"},"modified":"2026-01-11T04:47:30","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T04:47:30","slug":"a-caller-claimed-i-missed-jury-duty-was-it-a-scam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/507743\/","title":{"rendered":"A caller claimed I missed jury duty. Was it a scam?"},"content":{"rendered":"

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.<\/strong> \u2013 Q: <\/b>Jacksonville Today reader Lois B. got a telephone call recently about her missing jury duty, and it just did not ring true, she says.<\/p>\n

The caller said she did not show up for jury duty, and now she would have to go to the Jacksonville Sheriff\u2019s Office immediately.<\/p>\n

The judge, she was told, \u201cwas being tough on people who didn\u2019t show up and I would have to come down and verify that my signature was forged. (They supposedly had my signature on the form that said I was coming.)\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI questioned if this was a scam, and he said I wasn\u2019t being cooperative.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

Lois said the caller put someone else on the phone, supposedly a sheriff.<\/p>\n

She realized the call was a scam and called the Sheriff\u2019s Office to report it.<\/p>\n

Police told Lois \u201cthey are getting several calls from other people,\u201d she says. \u201cSome people have come down there, and others have paid money or gift cards.\u201d<\/p>\n

A:<\/b> Jacksonville Today confirmed the scam with police and the Duval County clerk of courts.<\/p>\n

Clerk of courts spokesperson Brian Corrigan says the scam has been around for years and his office has warned the public about it. It\u2019s also on the office\u2019s Scam Alert page at Duvalclerk.gov \u2013 Scam Alerts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had experienced an uptick in 2024 \u2026 but we haven\u2019t had a significant number of inquiries through the clerk\u2019s office about it recently,\u201d Corrigan says. <\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/b> That call you got from the IRS may be a scam<\/a><\/p>\n

A news release from 2024 says most scam callers pretend to be a law enforcement officer, state attorney, court official or deputy clerk.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes the callers are even sophisticated enough to use the name of an actual judge or public official,\u201d the news release says. \u201cThe scammer will advise that a fine was imposed and if it is not paid, a warrant will be issued for your arrest. To resolve the problem, they may ask for your bank account number or suggest purchasing a prepaid debit card or cryptocurrency.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do not do this, the clerk\u2019s office says. The clerk\u2019s office and law enforcement officers do not call or email residents to request payment for missing jury duty or court obligations. Any communication from those offices related to a legal matter will always be in writing.<\/p>\n

Christian Hancock, media relations manager for the Sheriff\u2019s Office, says complaints about the scam are common.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t believe they are any more or less prevalent, but we do get reports of these types of scams routinely,\u201d Hancock says. \u201cWe would always recommend citizens call if they feel they have been victimized to have the information documented.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hancock says the office will continue to make the public aware of the scam, but \u201cthese individuals prey on those that may not be aware of procedure or may be more vulnerable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Sheriff\u2019s Office would never call someone \u201cand threaten them with penalties to include jail if they don\u2019t relinquish personal information and\/or monetary amounts,\u201d Hancock says.<\/p>\n

Anyone who gets a questionable caller claiming missed court obligations and demanding payment should call the Clerk\u2019s Office at (904) 255-2000 or report the call to the Sheriff\u2019s Office\u2019s non-emergency line at (904) 630-0500.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Q: Jacksonville Today reader Lois B. got a telephone call recently about her missing jury…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":507744,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5136],"tags":[52136,5229,3188,723,7310,102005,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-507743","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-askjaxtdy","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-fl","11":"tag-florida","12":"tag-jacksonville","13":"tag-jacksonville-today","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-united-states-of-america","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","18":"tag-us","19":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115874656627048560","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=507743"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507743\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/507744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=507743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=507743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=507743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}