Oahu residents warned of jury duty scam
Three island residents recently were victims of a telephone scams who were called by people with called by a person with a southern drawl offering to clear a warrant in exchange for payment by phone for failing to show up for jury duty, the Hawaii sheriff division reported.
“This is a nationwide scam that started affecting Hawaii residents in early 2014,” said Hawaii State Sheriff Renee Sonobe Hong. “The calls appear to be random. The victims are usually scammed to pay money. We urge people to share this alert with your family and friends so they don’t become the next victim”.
In three recent cases, the individuals received calls from people who identified themselves as captains or lieutenants with the sheriffs. After mentioning that the individual had a warrant for failure to show up for jury duty, the caller then asked for money and told the individuals to go over to the Honolulu District Court and meet with the sheriffs to clear the warrant. In two of the cases, the individuals figured out it was a scam before giving any money over the phone and immediately notified the Hawaii State Sheriffs. A third report resulted in a second-degree theft investigation.
Hong said in a news release that sheriffs do not call people about warrants having to do with jury duty and will never ask for personal information or solicit payment over the phone. Hawaii residents are also advised not to provide credit card numbers or other personal information to callers claiming to represent a law enforcement agency or the courts.
If you receive a call matching this scam please alert the sheriff division by calling 586-1352.
12 responses to “Oahu residents warned of jury duty scam”
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SA is right: this scam has been around for several years. They operate out of Virginia a sheriff told me. But like all the scams out here, they especially target retired people who might take the phony call seriously. But as a student, I got one of these calls and immediately reported it to Honolulu Sheriff Dept. They began to investigate. They were right on the job. The entire deal is to generate as many phony calls as possible. If they hit on one out of 1000 it can be worth it.
But old people never miss jury duty because they have nothing else to do!
“Three island residents recently were victims of a telephone scams who were called by people with called by a person with a southern drawl offering to clear a warrant in exchange for payment by phone for failing to show up for jury duty, the Hawaii sheriff division reported.” Gregg K. Kakesako, could you please proofread what you write, so it doesn’t seem like a 6th grader wrote this article?
I noticed that right away too. When you’re the only newspaper in town there doesn’t seem to be much incentive to improve. After all, what are subscribers going to do? Switch to another paper?
Kakesako must be a UH journalism graduate as most of the SA staff.
If the target is asked to meet someone in person by the courthouse, couldn’t they just play along so the HPD can catch them? This instead of the police going on the phone and identifying himself as a HPD sergent so the scammer hangs up? Just asking.
“the caller then asked for money and told the individuals to go over to the Honolulu District Court and meet with the sheriffs to clear the warrant” – I think the scam is for the victim to pay money and then go to the courthouse where the sheriffs won’t know what the victim is talking about.
I’m automatically suspicious of anyone with a southern drawl. Almost as much as when I get a call from someone with an Indian accent. Recently one of those squirts tried calling me telling me they had to “fix” my computer. Well I gave em a piece of my mind to say the least.
giggle…
I can never understand who falls for this stuff.
Older generation were raised to respect and be polite towards all strangers, which is what phone scammers exploit.
Y’all just need to pay up; ya heah, y’all?