Jury Service Scam
The Court has received reports that citizens of the Eastern District of Washington are being targeted by jury service scams.
Neither the U.S. Marshals Service, nor the U.S. District Court, will ever call to request payment of fines over the phone for failure to appear for jury duty.
The fraudulent caller may identify themselves as an officer with local law enforcement or the U.S. Marshals Service. They will typically instruct you to purchase prepaid debit cards at your local grocery store and read the card numbers over the phone to pay your fines in order to avoid arrest.
To further validate their claims, the caller may also instruct you to report to your local courthouse with the prepaid debit cards, provide you with the name of a real judge, government employee, and/or reference a case number.
Jury duty is a vital civic responsibility and should be taken seriously by all citizens. However, it is a crime for anyone to falsely represent himself or herself as a federal court official. The federal judiciary takes seriously such an offense.
If you are called by someone who says there is a warrant for your arrest related to missed federal jury service, do not make any payments to them. Instead notify the Clerk of Court’s office and FBI office in your area immediately.