If your phone rings and a serious voice says you skipped jury duty and now owe big money, Marion County deputies want you to hang up before your wallet gets involved.
The Sheriff’s Office says scammers are calling residents, pretending to be deputies and insisting the person on the line missed jury duty or has a warrant, then leaning hard on them to pay fake fines. The callers push for untraceable payments like Bitcoin or prepaid gift cards and sometimes use spoofed phone numbers or the names of actual deputies to sound official. Officials stress that the Marion County Sheriff’s Office does not call to demand money and will not ask anyone to meet at gas stations or parking lots to hand over cash.
What Deputies Are Saying
According to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, scammers can make their calls look legitimate by spoofing caller ID and dropping the names of real employees. The agency notes that staff “will never ask” for payment over the phone. The post also emphasizes that deputies do not arrange to meet people at gas stations, kiosks or parking lots to collect money.
How The Scam Works
The basic playbook is fear and urgency. Scammers tell the person they missed a jury summons or have an outstanding warrant, then push them to pay immediately using cryptocurrency, gift cards or other hard-to-trace methods…