U.S. District Court Judge Randal Hall says he wants the public to hear straight from “the horse’s mouth” that he has issued no warrants for people who may have missed jury service.
Residents in Columbia County have been receiving phone calls from masked numbers that appear to be coming from the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office.
The scam caller, pretending to be Columbia County dispatch, tells the potential victim that they had been called for jury duty and missed their date without informing the court; the person is then told that a warrant, signed by Judge Hall, has been issued for their arrest.
“If the person resists and tells them they don’t know anything about a jury summons, the caller then gets aggressive and tells them deputies are on their way to pick them up and take them to jail,” Hall said.
According to Hall, the scam caller then demands a fictitious fine, usually payable in the form of a gift card or prepaid Visa and instructs the victim on where to deliver the payment.
Since the names and private information of potential and active jurors is protected by law, Hall says the calls are being made randomly, so even people who have never had business before the court could be potential victims.
“These are professional scammers. They take advantage of the fact that people have trust in law enforcement and they back up their telephone claims with text pictures of badges and even the fake warrant with my name on it,” Hall said.
According to a press release issued by the U.S. Marshal’s Service, this is a scam that is occurring nationwide and Marshal David L. Lyons says that the Augusta area is a major target.
“Unfortunately, the scheme has proven highly successful at both the local and national level. Fraudsters often establish credibility with callers by employing a threatening tone, providing information like badge numbers, names of actual law enforcement officials or judges, and referencing real courthouse addresses,” Lyons said.
Hall says the public should know that anytime that a federal warrant is issued, it is served in person by the U.S. Marshal’s Service and that office does not use the telephone, in any way, to serve warrants.
“Since my name is appearing on these fraudulent warrants, I want the public to hear from me that I have not signed any warrants, they need to hang up immediately and then report the call to law enforcement,” Hall said.
According to the Marshal’s Service, the public can report the information to the FBI through its Internet Crime Complaint Center and to the Federal Trade Commission.
Scott Hudson is the Senior Investigative Reporter and Editorial Page Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
