Scammers pose as court officials in Mississippi jury scam

Date:2025-08-20 02:48:04 Category:US Views:1 Comment:0

JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – Scammers are once again targeting Mississippi citizens regarding jury service.

In the Southern District of Mississippi, which includes the Jackson-metro area and all counties and municipalities along and south of Interstate 20, residents reported receiving professional-sounding phone calls with threats of fines or jail time for failing to appear for jury service in federal court.

“In recent weeks we have seen an increase of impersonators calling the public and using names of actual law enforcement officers and even federal or state judges informing the public they have missed jury duty and a fine or bond must now be paid,” said Chief Deputy U. S. Marshal Shermaine Sullivan, of the Southern District of Mississippi.

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Members of the public also are warned about any request to provide confidential information in response to callers or to an email. The Southern District does not ask for sensitive information in a telephone call or email.

“The public should know that while jury service is mandatory and important, no one from law enforcement or the courts will contact a juror who fails to appear by phone and demand payment of a fine,” Chief Judge Sul Ozerden stated. “While the clerk’s office may occasionally reach out to jurors by phone, it never does so to request payment. Such a request is a key indicator that the call is a scam.”

Phone contact by federal court officials to potential jurors will never include requests for Social Security numbers, credit card numbers or any other sensitive information.

Scammers may sometimes provide information like badge numbers, names of actual law enforcement officers and federal judges, and courthouse addresses. They may even claim that an “arrest warrant” has been issued for you.

The U.S. District Courts has provided these tips to keep residents safe from these scammers:

The U.S. Marshals and the U. S. District Court will never ask for credit, debit, or
gift card numbers; wire transfer details; or bank routing numbers for any purpose
Don’t divulge personal or financial information to unknown callers
Report scam phone calls to your local FBI office
You can remain anonymous when you report
If a scammer provides a court order, authenticate it by calling the clerk of the court’s office of the U.S. District Court in your area and verify the court order given by the caller