FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — A jury duty scam targeting people in metro Atlanta is resurfacing. People are calling potential victims, impersonating law enforcement officers, telling people they missed jury duty and now have a warrant out for their arrest.
People in both Fulton and Dekalb County told Channel 2’s Eryn Rogers they received a call this week.
Deanna Turner said she got a call Wednesday morning.
“He says ‘Well, Miss Turner, this is officer so and so with the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department,’ and I got this kind of pit in my throat,” Turner said. “He said we have a warrant for your arrest for a failure to appear and a failure to comply. You have jury duty, and you missed your jury duty.”
She said the people on the phone new her name, her address, what car she drove, and that she lived alone.
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She said they told her a jury duty notice was sent to her home in October that she signed. She told them she did not recall signing any document. She said that is when she started to panic slightly.
“The nature of work that I do, I’m licensed, so I cannot have anything on my record, so I’m like OK, let me just see this through,” Turner said.
The person on the phone went on to tell her that she needed to come to the Dekalb County Public Safety Building on Memorial Drive. She said the person told her they needed to stay on the phone with her while she is driving in case she got pulled over with her active warrant.
“He says it’s $1,500 per warrant, so they want $3,000,” Turner said. “I almost stopped the car in the street.”
The person claiming to be a sergeant on the phone with her told her she needed to go to CVS, wire money, then get a receipt to bring to the Public Safety Building.
Then, they would compare the signature on her driver’s license to the one of the supposed jury duty notice to see if she did indeed sign it or if it was fraud. She said when they mentioned money she realized something was not right.
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“I’m saying to myself, they wouldn’t call and ask me for money over the phone,” Turner said.
The FBI released a warning in February of 2024 about the jury duty scam targeting Georgians which aligned with Turner’s experience this week.
The Better Business Bureau of Atlanta says they have seen hundreds of victims with people losing $1,000 or more.
“That fear tactic causes people to move really fast and not quite think about the next steps,” said Taelore Hicks with the BBB.
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Turner did not give over any money, but she hopes sharing her story will help others not become victims.
“They’re getting really creative out here, so follow your gut, but if it doesn’t sound right, it’s probably not,” Turner said.
The FBI warns people to be suspicious of unknown numbers and to never give money to someone you do not know. They also encourage people to hang up and call the law enforcement agency directly to see if they are trying to reach you.
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