Jury Duty Scam

Even though this item doesn't pertain to online sales, I still thought it worth mentioning here since it could lead to identity theft.

I received an email about this jury duty scam and checked it out at Snopes.com (great site for checking out hoaxes by the way - save your friends some unnecessary worry before forwarding all of those warnings you receive by checking them out there first). Snopes has verified that this scam does indeed exist.

In a nutshell, here's what happens: someone calls you pretending to work for your local area court and says a warrant has been issued for your arrest because you failed to report for jury duty. Of course you say you never received the notice (because it was never sent), then they proceed to ask you questions to verify your identity.

The caller then may ask for your Social Security number, birthdate, possibly even credit card information or other personal information. NEVER GIVE OUT ANY OF THIS INFORMATION - court workers will not call you and ask for this type of information over the phone! If anything, they would snail-mail you something to follow up.

If in doubt, pick up the phone and call your local court house directly - they'll be more than happy to verify if you have indeed been sent a notice for jury duty!

Please click here to read the entire article located at Snopes.com.