The jury duty scam is mainly an identity theft, although it can also be an opportunity to steal money as well.
The scammers use the phone to ring people to seek and get them to reveal their birth date,Social Security number, and credit card numbers - as well as maybe other personal information.
How Does the Jury Duty Scam Work?
Your phone rings and when you reply it, the person on the other end says they are an officer of the court. They say that you have failed to report for jury duty and a justify is out for your arrest.
Despite you telling them you never got a notice, they advise that one was sent and reiterate the importance of the matter.
To try and clear it up, the caller will ask for some information for confirmation purposes that will include your full name, date of birth and Social Security number.
They now have all the information which they need for identity theft.
The caller may then state the condition that you can avoid being arrested if you pay an immediate fine. To do that you will need to offer them with your credit card details.
This provides them an extra opportunity to use your personal information for fraudulent purposes.
Advice to Avoid a Jury Duty Scam
Remember that court officers by no means ask for personal or confidential information over the phone. Courts normally follow up with potential jurors and no-show jurors by letters.
Never give out personal details when you receive an unwanted phone call . In various parts of the United States, citizens are being targeted by phone calls and threatened with law rules for failing to comply with jury service in federal or state courts.
Federal courts do not require anyone to provide any personal information in a telephone call.
Most contact between a federal court and a prospective juror will be through the U.S. Mail, and any phone contact by real court officials will not include requests for social security numbers, credit card numbers, or any other peronal information.
If you are unsure about a telephone call ,ask for the caller’s name and organization’s or department’s details and then hang up.
Find a valid contact number for the organization using a telephone directory or other means [Don't use a contact number provided by the caller] and then call the organization and ask to speak to the original caller by name
Spam campaigns have been taken to the next higher level with the use of company logos, it has been alleged.
The logos of major software firm Microsoft and Trend Micro have been used in spam email drives in recent days and it has been claimed.
SC Magazine reported, “According to the Trend Micro, emails that have been sent appear to be legitimate since they use trusted company logos, but may contain malicious software”.
Anti-spam researcher at Trend Micro Maria Alarcon said that, “Relying again on the popularity of these two said companies and using these would be at first look seems to Microsoft/Trend Micro-related content spammers could be able to fool some recipients into actually downloading and installing the attachment”.
Also she pointed out that one example of an email to Latin American users contained both logos and urged the recipient to download an attached file to protect themselves from malicious attacks.
And also, it was revealed that some users of social networking sites, like Twitter and Face book, had their passwords and still information was stolen by the spammers.
RECENT UPDATES IN PHISHING SCAM:
Scammers are getting clever than before. They publish the text message through the phone calls and e-mails. One of the recent updated news today is as follows:
Jason Hicks says he received one on his company phone. He forwarded it to us.
It reads:
University Health FCU Has Deactive Your 4091-86xxxxx Debit card Call Security Department.
You’ll notice that the language isn’t exactly good English.
Jason says he called the number and got an automated message asking to input his debit card number. He knew better. Today we called the number and got a busy signal.
Of course, this message is not actually from the University Health Federal Credit Union. On the real credit union’s website they have a warning.
It says, if you receive a text message telling you that your check card information needs to be updated, please do not respond. If you have, please contact the credit union right away.
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