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Dauphin County authorities warn residents of jury duty scam

DAUPHIN COUNTY, Pa. – Dauphin County Authorities are warning the public to be on alert for a ‘jury duty’ phone scam. An individual has been calling Dauph...

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DAUPHIN COUNTY, Pa. – Dauphin County Authorities are warning the public to be on alert for a ‘jury duty’ phone scam. An individual has been calling Dauphin County residents identifying the caller as a county employee claiming that the resident recently missed jury duty. The caller then advises the resident that as a result of missing jury duty that a warrant has been issued by the court for the resident’s arrest. The caller goes on to advise the resident that the situation can be cleared up if they pay a fine.

At least five residents from the Hershey/Hummelstown area have contacted Dauphin County officials over the past week reporting that someone attempted to scam them using the ‘jury duty’ phone scam technique. Callers have identified themselves using the names of actual Dauphin County officials. The callers then tell the resident to purchase pre-paid gift cards or reloadable credit cards and tell the resident to then provide the card numbers to the caller. Calls to the phone number provided by the scammers has an answering machine identifying the number as belonging to an official Dauphin County agency.

John Goshert, Chief of the District Attorney’s Criminal Investigation Division advises residents, “If you get this type of call hang up and then notify your local police. Law enforcement officers and other court authorities will not call to arrange immediate payment of fines over the phone for missing jury duty.”