Beware Of This New Jury Duty Scam In Illinois

It seems like every day in Illinois, criminals are coming up with a new scam to try and steal money from poor unsuspecting victims in our state.

New Scam Involving Jury Duty In Illinois

Growing up at my parents' house, we never had anything fancy for our phone or service. There was no call waiting, caller ID, voicemail, or three-way calling. There was a plain black rotary dial phone on the wall of the kitchen. It's funny to think about those days, when I'm walking around with a mini computer in my hand.

READ MORE: Train Trip Becomes A Nightmare For Illinois Residents Traveling To Michigan

Out of all those fancy phone features I never had as a child, the one I appreciate the most now is caller ID. If you're not in my phonebook, I'm not answering your call. That means I don't know you. When the person leaves an important message, I'll call them back. Otherwise, I immediately hit the delete button.

I finally got my mother to ignore calls from people she doesn't know. There are just too many scams out there nowadays. Every day, there's a new one that I hear about. The best way to avoid them. Don't answer the phone. The latest one involves jury duty.

Get our free mobile app

The caller pretends to be a cop and says you missed jury duty. You have to pay a fine or go to jail. Then you have to meet the officer to pay it off. Don't do it because it's a total scam. Just another thief trying to steal your money.

According to WGN TV...

The Lake County Sheriff’s Office is warning of a jury duty scam involving a fake call from an officer.

 

The office said they’ve received reported of community members getting phone calls from 847-801-7097 from someone claiming to be “Sergeant Ryan Mitchell with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.”

 

The caller is telling people they’ve missed jury duty and they must go to Waukegan to pay a fine.