news-record.com

GREENSBORO — A new phone scam going around tries to leverage your personal information by telling people there's an arrest warrant out for them for missing jury duty.

Officials say the caller claims to be a jury duty coordinator who says you missed showing up in court for service. Protest that you never received a summons for jury duty and the caller will ask for your Social Security number and date of birth they can "verify" the information and cancel the arrest warrant. Sometimes, the caller ask for a credit card number to clear the record.

The scam is getting around and has come to the attention of several elected officials including the office of North Carolina U.S. Sen. Richard Burr. Staffers there are warning people that missed jury duty never results in a phone call.

Instead, a judge issues a warrant for you to come to court and explain your absence. Those warrants are served by a sheriff's deputy who comes to your home. As a rule, court officers never ask for confidential information over the phone; they generally correspond with prospective jurors via mail.

The FBI and the federal court system have issued nationwide alerts on their websites, warning consumers about the fraud.