Snopes says it is true...
http://www.snopes.com/crime/fraud/juryduty.asp Beware - Jury Duty Scam
Most of us take those summons for jury duty seriously, but enough
people skip out on their civic duty, that a new and ominous kind of
scam has surfaced. Fall for it and your identity could be stolen,
reports CBS.
In this con, someone calls pretending to be a court official who
threateningly says a warrant has been issued for your arrest because
you didn't show up for jury duty. The caller claims to be a jury
coordinator.
If you protest that you never received a summons for jury duty, the
scammer asks you for your Social Security number and date of birth so
he or she can verify the information and cancel the arrest warrant.
Sometimes they even ask for credit card numbers. Give out any of this
information and bingo! Your identity just got stolen.
In reality, court workers will never call you to ask for social security numbers and other private information. In fact, most courts follow up via snail mail and rarely, if ever, call prospective jurors.
Action: Never give out your Social Security number, credit card numbers or other personal confidential information when you receive a telephone call.
The scam has been reported so far in 11 states, including Oklahoma,
Illinois, and Colorado.
This (scam) is particularly insidious because they use intimidation over
the phone to try and bully people into giving information by pretending
they're with the court system.
The FBI and the federal court system have issued nationwide alerts on
their websites, warning consumers about the fraud.
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