Local Woman Warns Of Close Call With ‘Jury Duty’ Scam

A woman from Penobscot County had an experience that left her so shaken this week, that she wants to warn others about ending up in the same situation.

We’re choosing not to identify her. 

The woman was in line at the pharmacy Wednesday, waiting to pick up a prescription, as she and her kids had been home sick all week.

While in line, she received a phone call. The caller ID said it was coming from the Penobscot County Jail, and the caller identified himself as an employee of the court. He then proceeded to tell this sick mom that she had missed jury duty, and was facing either jail time or a $7,000 fine.

The woman began to become upset. She hadn't remembered anything coming in the mail about her needing to report to jury duty. But her family had been very ill all week, so maybe something slipped through the cracks.

"In all honesty, it was the most terrifying call I had experienced. As someone who has a very clean record and has never broken the law, I was so incredibly scared that I could actually go to jail for 45 days IF my signature matched something I knew I didn't sign. I had no idea if the PCC would call someone who missed Jury Duty, but it didn't seem odd to me if they did. And as a mom of twins, I just wanted to do whatever I could to get this taken care of so I could go home to my kids."

The person on the phone told her she needed to go down to the courthouse and provide a signature sample so they could determine if she had committed a crime.

Not knowing exactly what to do, but now being completely on edge, while still on the phone with this person, she (who happened to be nearby the courthouse) went in and asked for help.

She was taken to Gary Higgins, an investigator with the D.A.'s office, and he instantly took over the call.

"If you look online, you'll see that stuff. These are standard scam calls...a lot of time they target elderly people. The best way to deal with that is to just hang up immediately."

Higgins says no reputable institution will call you asking for information they should already have or for you to pay them exorbitant amounts of money.

"Nobody will ever call you and say you owe money and you better come down and pay money, or else..."

At that point, when Higgins demanded to know who was on the other line and where the person was calling from, the caller's demeanor changed and ultimately the call ended.

Higgins says if you're concerned about the possibility that you may have missed something, you can always hang up and call the courthouse or whatever institution the caller claims to be representing and double-check with them that the claim is legitimate.

"There's so many people doing pranks these days, so many people doing scam calls. If somebody's calling you like, you know, one way or another, just hang up."

She says she was shocked by how convincing and genuine this scammer seemed.

"I'm not your usual gullible person when it comes to being scammed. I usually can tell from an email, text, or call whether or not it's a scam. But yesterday's interaction terrified me. It GENUINLY came across as a member of the Penobscot County Courthouse calling me. Not just because it showed up as their actual phone number and labeled 'Penobscot County Courthouse' on my phone, but by the way they spoke to me, and that they weren't asking right off the bat for money or information they shouldn't need."

The takeaway here: beware... when in doubt hang up, or call the company to confirm.