"Hmm",  you says to yourself, "how could I have missed it?"

"I never received a jury summons", you protest.

"Well", responds the voice on the phone, "you did miss your appointment and now a bench warrant has been issued for your arrest"

Suddenly your head is filled with a mass of questions, most regarding how this could have happened.

Without prompting the voice on the phone offers you a reprieve. If you’ll simply verify your social security number and birth date we can take the proper steps to clear this up and even offers to let you pay the fine over the phone.

At this point you are ready to do anything to avoid arrest so you start to give this most sensitive information.

But wait. Is this real or fake? Let’s put it to the test.

You ask the voice on the phone to tell you the social security number and birth date they have on record, putting the onus on the voice to prove they are who they say.

Most likely at this point they’ll go away, since it’s obvious your on to the scam. Either that or they’ll argue they need you to give the information to avoid privacy issues. They’re a bold bunch.

It’s time to disconnect and call the jury services for your area. Confirm with them whether or not you missed the duty.

Never let people bully you into giving sensitive information unsolicited.

I leave it to you whether you contact the organization the voice claims to be representing to verify the validity of the situation you’ve been presented with.

The jury duty scam has been around for at least five years because they use fear to elicit compliance.

Don’t be bullied.