OAKLAND COUNTY (WWJ) — Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard says there is a scam targeting residents, threatening them with arrest because they did not show up for jury duty.
“Just hang up,” Bouchard said in a press release. “We continue to get reports of residents being hit with these phony phone calls. The Sheriff’s Office will never demand immediate payment over the phone. Ever. Just hang up.”
He said a Huntington Woods woman was scammed earlier this week out of $18,000. A caller, who was posing as a law enforcement official, told the woman federal officials had issued a warrant for her arrest because he said she failed to show up for jury duty.
According to the sheriff’s office, she was kept on the phone for more than five hours and went to multiple financial institutions to get the money. She was given false names for people allegedly representing the Sheriff’s Office and federal law enforcement; and fraudulent case numbers. The caller warned her she would violate a gag order if she told anyone about the call; and she would be arrested if she went to the Oakland County government complex.
Bouchard reiterated “neither law enforcement nor court officials will ever ask for any kind of immediate payment to avoid arrest.”
Delinquent jurors are contacted by mail, but never by phone, according to Representatives from both the U.S. District Court – Eastern Michigan District in Detroit and Oakland County Circuit Court.