WILLIAMSON CO., Ill.—Williamson County Sheriff Bennie Vick would like to alert residents to a phone scam that is active in northern and central Illinois, and may be coming to our area.
This scam is known as a Jury Duty Scam, and is one of several MoneyPac or Green Dot Card scams.
The scam involves an individual calling a citizen and telling them they missed scheduled jury duty. The caller states that the Judge has issued an arrest warrant for the missed jury duty.
In cases in the northern part of Illinois the caller used the name “Captain Allen from the Federal Warrant Division.” The caller also used the names of sitting Judges in the correct Judicial Circuits.
The caller tells the victim they can avoid arrest for missing this jury duty if they pay a fine immediately. The caller then directs the victim to purchase a MoneyPac or Green Dot prepaid credit card to use to pay the fine.
Sheriff Vick wants residents to know that this is not how notice of Jury Duty is delivered, and that this is not how arrest warrants are served.
Sheriff Vick would also like to remind residents that any telephone call that wants payment using a pre-paid credit card should be considered suspicious.