# Jury Duty scam **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 11, 2016, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-scam/757070 "2016-06-11T00:49:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2016, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-scam/757070/1 "2016-06-11T00:49:46Z")
The lady in the jurors’ room was giving her spiels about the the stuff we needed to know, and telling her stories/jokes and stuff. Then she started going on about this jury duty scam that has been going around (harvesting the fruits of stupidity, I guess): The scammers call and tell you that you failed to show up for jury duty and there is a warrant on your head, so to avoid arrest, you need to give them money. The person is directed to obtain a cash card in a specified amount, contact them and read the numbers off the card(s). The take from a single mark has inched up well into the four-digit range ($US). So, yeah, I am going to give away money to an anonymous stranger over the phone. Right. My inclination, I think, would be to tell them to send an officer over to talk with me (apparently they are with the “_County_ Police”, and there was one case where the caller could not even pronounce the name of the local city, which is pretty tricky). So my question would be, would it be possible to obtain a fake, flagged cash card that would be like the blue dye bomb they put in money bags? A thing which when used would identify and scorch a scammer? Would that sort of thing be legal, would a bank or somesuch be able to make such a thing, and is it likely that they would be willing to? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2016, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-scam/757070/2 "2016-06-11T00:53:53Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > there was one case where the caller could not even pronounce the name of the local city, which is pretty tricky Sequim? Puyallup? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2016, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-scam/757070/3 "2016-06-11T01:19:32Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Then she started going on about this jury duty scam that has been going around (harvesting the fruits of stupidity, I guess): > … > So, yeah, I am going to give away money to an anonymous stranger over the phone. Right. It sounds ridiculous, but the people who pull this scam are pretty good at what they do, and can sound pretty damn convincing. Here is an interesting read: > **[Narratively | Substack](https://www.narratively.com/)** > > Discover extraordinary true stories celebrating the diversity of humanity. Click to read Narratively, a Substack publication with tens of thousands of subscribers. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2016, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-scam/757070/4 "2016-06-11T01:38:22Z")
> [@Absolute](#): > > It sounds ridiculous, but the people who pull this scam are pretty good at what they do, and can sound pretty damn convincing. Here is an interesting read: > > [Narratively | Substack](http://narrative.ly/how-i-fell-face-first-for-an-epic-irs-scam/) The part where the supposed police call the cell and the number showing is 911 made me LOL. _911?!_ C’mon, that’s not even trying. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2016, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-scam/757070/5 "2016-06-11T01:44:13Z")
> [@Absolute](#): > > It sounds ridiculous, but the people who pull this scam are **pretty good at what they do, and can sound pretty damn convincing**. Here is an interesting read: > > [Narratively | Substack](http://narrative.ly/how-i-fell-face-first-for-an-epic-irs-scam/) Really? I got through the first 1/3 of that article and gave up in laughter. The woman who fell for that is monumentally gullible, despite what she claims. 9-1-1 caller i.d., lmao. Even my gullible dad who’s in his 80’s and clueless about how awful con artists can be wouldn’t have fallen for that. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2016, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-scam/757070/6 "2016-06-11T01:44:38Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > So, yeah, I am going to give away money to an anonymous stranger over the phone. Right. Sure, you wouldn’t. But a lot of patsies do, and it’s a very profitable business: > [@](#): > > More than 3,000 have been successfully conned out of thousands of dollars and more, according to Congressional testimony by Timothy P. Camus, Deputy Inspector General for Investigations and Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. The total take: approximately $15.5 million. (from the link in post #3) ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2016, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-scam/757070/7 "2016-06-11T02:08:54Z")
Yes because the IRS sends the police to arrive in two hours and then calls to warn you that they’re coming. I believe that the dea is planning on using that tactic with drug busts. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2016, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-scam/757070/8 "2016-06-11T02:34:01Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > . . . So my question would be, would it be possible to obtain a fake, flagged cash card that would be like the blue dye bomb they put in money bags? A thing which when used would identify and scorch a scammer? . . . Damn fine idea! I hope someone comes up with a way to make it work. (We have to make sure of protections against false positives, i.e., if a completely legitimate fund-raiser calls to ask for donations, and the “tagged” account gets used.) I’ve never actually been stung, but, oh boy, I get scam calls all the damn time, and I’d love to have a way to fight back. (I started a Pit thread… “Hello, I am calling from the Security for your Computer.” Grrr…) ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2016, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-scam/757070/9 "2016-06-11T03:54:03Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > So my question would be, would it be possible to obtain a fake, flagged cash card that would be like the blue dye bomb they put in money bags? A thing which when used would identify and scorch a scammer? Would that sort of thing be legal, would a bank or somesuch be able to make such a thing, and is it likely that they would be willing to? Probably not. They’re taking cash out against the card, but the question is _where_? They’re probably printing up their own card & going to an ATM. Even if they went to a place where they were interacting with a person (bank teller, check cashing place) there’s no mechanism in place (that I’m aware of) to 1. know exactly where the request came from instantaneously (to send the correct PD) & 2. Get a message to that employee to delay the transaction w/o making the ‘customer’ suspicious until the PD can arrive. That works in movies but not so much in real life. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2016, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-scam/757070/10 "2016-06-11T13:06:44Z")
The number of the card _is_ the best possible thing to have to trace the transaction. But it doesn’t do much good. There are layers and layers behind this. You want to first trace one, then the next, then the next. But right away you hit transactions taking place in other countries which makes things very complicated. All sorts of anonymizing tricks are used. Etc. If you wanted to trace a million dollars, it’d be worth the effort but still difficult\*. A few thousand? Total waste of resources. \*A bank in Bangladesh got ripped off for several million recently. So far, they think it might have ended up in North Korea. Maybe. ---
**Author:** ![Me\_Billy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Me\_Billy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Me_Billy)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2016, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-scam/757070/11 "2016-06-11T14:13:00Z")
In an IRS scam, the caller demanded $500 in\*\* iTunes cards \*\* (to not prosecute them)!!! And some idiot fell for that! ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2016, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-scam/757070/12 "2016-06-11T14:17:10Z")
The scammers who impersonate the IRS are very smart. They know that no other agency is so feared by the general populace. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2016, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-scam/757070/13 "2016-06-11T18:56:41Z")
> [@Me\_Billy](#): > > In an IRS scam, the caller demanded $500 in\*\* iTunes cards \*\* (to not prosecute them)!!! > > And some idiot fell for that! We’ve got that up here as well (CRA rather than IRS of course) involving **much** larger sums of money. People really are that stupid! ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2016, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-scam/757070/14 "2016-06-11T20:31:35Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > I got through the first 1/3 of that article and gave up in laughter. The woman who fell for that is monumentally gullible Yes. You want to be sympathetic, but anyone half this gullible is going to fall victim to any number of scams. (Which is not to say that those responsible should not be smeared with jam and tied to an anthill.) ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2016, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-scam/757070/15 "2016-06-11T21:30:56Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > You want to be sympathetic, but anyone half this gullible is going to fall victim to any number of scams. > > (Which is not to say that those responsible should not be smeared with jam and tied to an anthill.) I have a friend who has some acquired brain damage from an incident a couple of decades ago. She has big signs taped up by her phone and at her front door reminding her DO NOT BUY ANYTHING. DO NOT GIVE ANYONE MONEY. So far they’ve worked. Perhaps some charitable group should print out a bunch of similar posters to hand out in shopping centers like candy to anyone who thinks they could do with one? Of course, knowing that you need one is the first step in the battle… ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2016, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-scam/757070/16 "2016-06-11T21:38:45Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > Yes. > > You want to be sympathetic, but anyone half this gullible is going to fall victim to any number of scams. Indeed. In fact, I was wondering if that level of panic was driven more by a guilty conscience than gullibility. If I knew I could only have made an honest mistake on my taxes, I doubt that I would do anything more than hang up and call the IRS to check this situation out. After all, it’s the IRS, not the Gestapo.