The judges of the Columbia Judicial Circuit have learned of a scam being perpetrated upon the citizens of Columbia County. In recent days, an old scam has resurfaced in Columbia County whereby the caller alleges that the recipient has missed jury duty and that an arrest warrant has been issued for the recipient of the call. The caller goes on to allege that the arrest warrant will be recalled if the recipient of the call makes a payment via an obscure gift card service or some other non-traditional payment method. The caller will suggest that the recipient of the call must make the payment on the same day the call is received or the Sheriff will execute the arrest warrant. THIS IS A SCAM!

At no time will a legitimate employee of the Court, Clerk or Sheriff ever call anyone to advise them that an arrest warrant has been issued and further suggest that service of that warrant can be avoided if the citizen makes some sort of payment. No court would make any similar demand upon anyone.

This “jury duty scam” has existed for years and there are variations on the script that the scammer uses to make the demand for payment. In the most recent version, parents of adult children are contacted and told that their adult child missed his/her jury duty date. The caller attempts to extort payment from the parent of the adult child. There are different variations of the script used from time-to-time but they all involve a claim that an arrest warrant has been issued and that the arrest can be avoided if a payment is made. Again, this is a scam and is not a legitimate call from the court!

Be aware that these scammers can be somewhat sophisticated and will claim to be someone who is actually employed with the Sheriff’s Office. They may spoof their caller identification information to make it appear that the call is actually being made from the Sheriff’s Office. All of this information is false but scammers use seemingly correct information in an attempt to persuade the recipient of the call that the call is legitimate. The scammer may know the full legal name of the recipient of the call (or his/her adult child). All of this information is being used by the scammer in an attempt to make the recipient of the call believe that the call is legitimate.

If you receive such a call, DO NOT MAKE ANY PAYMENT TO THE CALLER! You may call the non-emergency number for the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office (706) 541-2800 to verify that the call is not legitimate and to report the scam.

The Superior Court judges of the Columbia Judicial Circuit request that local media outlets immediately assist in notifying the public of this scam in an attempt to ensure that these scammers are not successful in their attempts to victimize the public.