Scams explained
What is the jury duty scam?
A caller says they are a sheriff's deputy, police officer or court officer and that you missed jury duty. They say a warrant has been issued and you will be arrested unless you pay a fine or bond right away. They ask for payment by cash, gift cards, a payment app or a Bitcoin ATM, and often ask you to stay on the phone while you go to get it.
Drawn from 243 news stories in the Elderus archive. Last updated October 17, 2026.
If a message like this reached you, you were right to stop and look it up. These are professional operations, and they reach careful people every day.
What our news archive shows
243 news stories in the Elderus archive mention the jury duty scam, the earliest from February 2024. Together they name 44 states. The places named most often: Florida (14), Texas (14), Colorado (13), Pennsylvania (10) and California (7).
What people were asked to hand over
Across the 62 stories with this scam in the headline:
Stories added each month in 2026
The busiest month so far this year was August 2026, with 20 stories.
What does the jury duty scam look like?
- A call from a number that shows the name of a local sheriff's office or court.
- A caller who gives a rank, a name and a badge number, sometimes belonging to a real officer.
- Personal details that make it sound real: your address, date of birth, even your Social Security number.
- Instructions to keep the call secret and stay on the line while you withdraw cash or go to a store or Bitcoin ATM.
How does the jury duty scam work?
- Caller ID can be faked, so the call can appear to come from a real sheriff's office.
- The fear of arrest is the lever. The caller keeps you on the phone so there is no pause to check with anyone.
- Payment goes through channels that are hard to reverse: cash, gift cards, Bitcoin ATMs or payment apps. Some callers send a "courier" to collect.
How it has shown up in the news
A caller posing as a police officer told an Arizona woman she had missed court for jury duty and had her withdraw money from several banks as fines and bond.
Read the story →A Kansas City couple got a call from someone who already had their addresses, birthdates and Social Security numbers, saying they had warrants for missing jury duty.
Read the story →In North Carolina, the caller used the name of a real deputy and a real badge number.
Read the story →What should I do if I get one?
- Hang up. Courts send jury summons by mail, and officers do not collect fines over the phone.
- Call the court clerk or the sheriff's office yourself, using a number from the county's official website or the phone book.
- If you paid, call your bank and report it to local police. If you used a Bitcoin ATM, keep the receipt.
Call the bank or card company first, using the number on the back of your card. The sooner they hear, the more they can stop. Then report it. Step-by-step help if you were scammed →
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Who do I report it to?
Your state's Adult Protective Services and attorney general take reports too. Find the numbers for Florida, Texas, Colorado, Pennsylvania, or any state.
Common questions
Will a court call me about missing jury duty?
Courts quoted in our archive, including the Los Angeles County Superior Court, say they do not call, text or email to demand payment for missed jury service.
The caller knew my address and birthday. Does that mean it is real?
No. Personal details are widely available from data breaches and people-search sites. Reports in our archive describe callers who already had addresses, birthdates and Social Security numbers.
Sources
- LA County Superior Court warns of jury duty scam. Here's what to look out for nbclosangeles.com · August 2026
- Bradford County deputies warn of jury duty scam calls - WCJB wcjb.com · September 2026
- State police, sheriff warn of jury duty scam targeting residents | News - NorthcentralPA.com northcentralpa.com · September 2026
- Jury duty scam costs Fort Bend woman $50,000 through Bitcoin ATM - Covering Katy News coveringkaty.com · September 2026
- Don't Fall for this Jury Duty Scam - Johnston County Government johnstonnc.gov · September 2026
How we count
Elderus collects news reports about fraud against older adults every day. A story counts toward this page when its headline or summary describes the jury duty scam. Copies of one story syndicated to several outlets count once, and stories that fail our quality checks (no usable summary, video transcripts, coverage outside the U.S.) are left out. States are the ones named in each story's headline and summary. Payment methods come from the stories with the scam in the headline. Monthly counts begin in January 2026 and use the date each story entered our archive. These figures describe news coverage. They do not measure how often the scam happens, since most scams are never reported in the news.