Crime & Safety

Thieves Target Seniors in 'Jury Duty' Scam

Scammers are posing as law-enforcement or court officials and trying to collect fines for "failing to appear" for jury duty or a court hearing.

The Redlands Police Department is warning residents, especially seniors, about phone scammers who may try to extort money by impersonating law-enforcement officials and demanding would-be victims to pay a fine for failing to appear for jury duty.

According to police, the scam artist may pretend to be a court officials or police officer and threaten that the victim has a court hearing or that they or their spouse may be arrested unless a large fine is paid over the phone by credit card or by providing bank information, officials said. 

Law enforcement officers do not serve warrants or collect fines over the telephone, officials said. The court will always contact you by mail.

Find out what's happening in Redlands-Loma Lindawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

There have not been any reported incidents in Redlands but there have been in the surrounding area and local investigators are prepared.

If you do receive such a call, officials remind you:

Find out what's happening in Redlands-Loma Lindawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

  • Do not supply or confirm any personal information.
  • Ask for the caller’s name, employee or badge number and contact information.
  • Locate a legitimate contact number for the court or police station using the telephone directory. Do not use the contact number provided by the caller!
  • Call the court or police station and inform them of the call you received and verify that you have no outstanding issues.

If you think you may be a victim of a scam, contact San Bernardino County Adult Protective Services at (877) 565-2020, or your local police department.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.

More from Redlands-Loma Linda