Jury Duty 'Failure to Appear' Warrant Scam
A caller posing as a sheriff says you missed jury duty and there is a warrant for your arrest — pay a fine immediately by gift card or wire to avoid jail.
Think a message like this reached you? You can check it right now.
What this scam is
Someone claiming to be a deputy or court officer calls to say you failed to appear for jury duty and now have an arrest warrant. To 'clear' it, you must pay a fine right away, usually by gift card, wire, or crypto, and stay on the line. Courts never call to demand payment to avoid arrest, and they never take gift cards. The fear of arrest is the whole leverage.
What it usually looks like
- A caller with a title (deputy, officer) citing a specific court.
- A claim of a warrant for missing jury duty.
- A demand to pay a fine immediately to avoid arrest.
- Instructions to buy gift cards or wire money and stay on the phone.
Common warning signs
- Real courts do not phone to demand payment to avoid arrest.
- Payment is demanded in gift cards, wire, or crypto.
- You are told not to hang up or tell anyone.
- The caller uses fear and urgency, not mailed notices.
Example wording scammers use
“This is Deputy Harris with the county sheriff. You failed to appear for jury duty and there's a warrant. Pay the $500 fine now to avoid arrest.”
“Do not hang up. Purchase two gift cards and read me the numbers to clear your warrant.”
These are illustrative examples written by ScamSplain, not real messages.
What the scammers want
- An immediate untraceable payment.
- To keep you scared and on the line.
- To escalate to more payments.
What to do
- Hang up. No court collects fines by phone or gift card.
- Call the actual court using a number from its official website.
- Never buy gift cards or wire money to 'clear a warrant.'
- Talk to someone you trust before doing anything.
What to do if you already responded
- If you paid by gift card, contact the card issuer right away — some funds can be frozen.
- Report to your local court and at reportfraud.ftc.gov.
- Report to the FBI at ic3.gov.