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Police receive numerous reports about “jury duty scam”

Posted at 1:54 PM, Dec 29, 2017
and last updated 2017-12-29 13:54:59-05

HENRICO, Va. –Henrico Police want to remind citizens to be wary of scams during the upcoming tax season, as well as throughout the year.  Be particularly vigilant of scams in which the caller professes to be from a governmental agency and requires the purchase of pre-paid money cards to absolve you of an error or wrong-doing.

Henrico Police have received numerous reports of fraudsters employing the “Jury Duty Scam”.  The caller portrays themselves as a court official or member of law enforcement – some are even using names of current Henrico County officials.  The caller notifies you warrants have been issued for your arrest because you missed grand jury or jury duty.  The caller then advises the only way to remedy this matter is by obtaining pre-paid money card(s) and giving them the numbers from the card(s).

As personal income taxes are being filed and tax returns received, there is also a notable increase of scams during the first half of each year.  As with the “Jury Duty Scam”, fraudsters portray themselves as a government official, notify you of delinquent fines, then waive a portion of the fine if you obtain pre-paid money card(s) and give them the numbers from the card(s).

Henrico Police reminds citizens to never give away personal or financial information to unverified sources and never purchase pre-paid money cards when receiving telephone calls/text messages/emails such as these.  Police encouraged people to share this information with senior-citizens, who they said can be particularly vulnerable.

For additional information and resources about these and other common scams, go to the Henrico website.

If you are the victim of fraud, a scam, or identity theft in Henrico County, contact Henrico Police at their non-emergency number 804-501-5000.

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