PORTSMOUTH, Va. — A 67-year-old Portsmouth woman got a disturbing phone call from someone claiming to be law enforcement, making threats to put her in jail.
The News 3 Investigative Team continues to follow through on the stories of those dealing with scammers in the community by sharing their stories.
Joanne Bright-Barnes said on a Thursday afternoon, the caller said there are two warrants out for her arrest for not showing up for jury duty.
Bright-Barnes said the caller referenced her age and questioned if she forgot about it.
She said the caller then got fresh with her over the phone, telling her to stop talking, listen and pay $4,000.
She said he told her she would be arrested today if she didn’t pay the fines and then sent her a text message showing what looked like a warrant for her arrest for failure to appear, contempt of court and failure of civil duties.
JOANNE BRIGHT BARNES Bright-Barnes said she was nervous because he knew so much about her personal information.
The News 3 Investigative Team called the number that called Bright-Barnes. It stated that this was a Google number and then transferred us to another phone number that had a message from what sounded like someone from law enforcement.