The Clallam County Sheriff’s Office received a call from a citizen reporting a phone call that she
received from an individual who identified them self as a Clallam County Sheriff’s Deputy. The
caller told the individual that she had failed to report for jury duty and as a result would have to
pay a fine.
The citizen became suspicious when the caller attempted to obtain their home address and other
personal information. Fortunately the citizen did not provide any personal information, instead
she terminated the phone call and called the Sheriff’s Office to verify whether the call was
legitimate or not.
The phone call was an attempt to gather personal information from a citizen in order to steal
money or obtain sufficient information for identity theft. As a matter of policy and procedure the
Sheriff’s Office does not call individuals and ask for personal information over the telephone. If
the Sheriff’s Office needs personal information from any individual they will contact them in
person.
Anyone receiving a telephone call seeking personal information or asking for money is advised to simply end the call.
In this scam, an individual pretending to be a Deputy Sheriff calls you and claims that you have
failed to respond to a jury summons and that a warrant has been issued for your arrest. When you state that you have never received a summons, the call will say he or she will require information for “verification purposes” in order to “cancel the arrest warrant.”
At this point, the caller will ask for sensitive information such as address, social security number, date of birth, and even bank or credit card information. If you receive such a call, do not give out any sensitive personal information. Hang up immediately and report the incident.
The Washington State Attorney General’s Office provides updated information on common
scams at their website: http://www.atg.wa.gov/scamalerts.aspx#.U87DpmJdV8E. You can view
additional information on Phone Scams and file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission
online at: http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0076-phone-scams
