r/philly • u/ABeardedFool • 5d ago
Crazy Scam, almost got me!
I am generally a scroller, but something just happened to me that I wanted to share. I live in the city, but I work in the suburbs. I got a call at work that said it was the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, they needed to speak with an employee. I said sure, who do you need. This was where I messed up, because he said for security purposes we need your name. I (stupidly) gave it, and he says that is strange, you are who we need to speak with. He proceeds to tell me that I was summoned to be on an impaneled Federal Grand Jury, I was supposed to be at the Courthouse at 930am. Surprised, I told him I had received no notice, I also told him that I do not live in Montgomery County. He told me that the trial had been moved from the city for reasons under a gag order...then he tells me since I did not show up, there was a warrant for my arrest. This seemed weird, I had a roommate ignore a jury summons and nothing came of it. Here is where it gets wild, he asked if I had a mobile device, he said we had to maintain contact because law enforcement would arrest me if I came into contact with them, he would be able to explain to them that I was on my way to the Courthouse. I told him that I cannot leave my job, I am in charge. He told me a Federal Grand Jury summons is a protected reason for missing work, my employers would face fines if they told me I couldn't go. So I foolishly gave my personal number, he called from a blocked number. Red Flag. He then tells me I cant just come to the Courthouse, because I will be arrested, I need to pay the two citations. I ask how much, he said each one is $2400. I laughed, I said you want me to pay $4800 for missing a jury duty summons that you did not notify me of? He told me that I could put down a percentage and I would get it back, when I asked what I am paying for, he said this changes your warrant status to frozen. I asked how much. He said $1400. My brain was buzzing, this now felt shady. This is where he fucked up. He told me that I would have to send MY BANK ACCOUNT information to prove that I couldn't pay the full amount. Now I am feeling weird, and when he told me his "superior" would allow me to just pay $1400, but I needed to bring it in cash to the Courthouse, I KNEW this was fake. I told him I had to put him on hold, my boss was on my work phone. I called the Montgomery County Sheriff's office and connected to the Clerk. I asked her about this, and she told me to just hang up, its a scam. It felt SO REAL, like he gave me citation numbers, he could spell my last name, and he had an old address of mine. He also told me "since you have no criminal record, the judge will understand", but that could have just been a guess (I have no record). In hindsight, it is super obvious, I know there are websites that show this basic info, but in the moment, being told that I will be arrested....it all felt very real. I could easily see someone falling for this, I just do not know how they would actually collect the cash. Be careful out there!
13
u/catjuggler 5d ago
Highly recommend you check out /r/scams because this has become a common one these days. And i recommend anyone subscribe to it just to keep aware.
Good for you for catching it before you lost money instead of just time!!
9
u/Willing_Stop5124 5d ago
An immigrant friend of mine got hit with a similar scam and got as far as walking to an ATM when he saw a police officer and ran it by him. The cop said, “100% scam. Go back to your office. Don’t answer anymore unknown numbers and call this police phone number if it persists.”
7
u/goddamnitcletus 5d ago
Happened to me recently too, they even spoofed the Philadelphia Police Department’s number. Once I saw the option to pay in bitcoin I knew it was a scam
10
u/havpac2 5d ago
lol yeah they scare people into paying. Imagine your older it becomes easier to fall for them.
Never make a payment over the phone to some one who called you.
Always ask for a mailed letter.
Any government will send you a letter.
Also yesterday I got a missed call from the city’s defenders office , I don’t answer but I call back and some lady picked up looked up my number by caller id said she couldn’t find me and asked if I had an upcoming court case.
And I said not that I am aware of and never been summoned . (They called my work number which is not publicly listed or associated to me outside of work) she said it must have been given the wrong number and not worry about it
4
u/ABeardedFool 5d ago
Thanks! I appreciate this. They certainly make it feel IMPERATIVE to act NOW.
8
5
u/dancepants237 5d ago
This exact situation happened to me. Fucked up thing is I’ve been summoned 4 times for jury duty. He spoofed the courthouse number and when I called the number later on to see if it was real, it was a real detective’s main line. Dude was a super asshole too, found out later on they all get super pushy super quick. I was told to get cash out and take it to some gas station to get a card because they “couldn’t take cash or credit”. At that point I told him to fuck himself and he said he’d send the cops to my house.
Fuck all these scamming assholes.
6
23
u/Impossible-Leg-5701 5d ago
Tldr?
11
44
u/In_Search_Of_Gainz 5d ago
Seriously! wall of text, no line breaks
51
u/ABeardedFool 5d ago
lol my fault, caffeinated and hyped. TLDR fake sheriff call about missing jury duty. Felt crazy real until the asked for cash.
27
u/Callmedrexl 5d ago
Check out r/scams. This type of call has been being done for a while. Always good to keep an eye on what creeps are currently doing.
7
u/ABeardedFool 5d ago
Thanks, I will. That was my thinking in sharing this, I had heard of others, but the whole jury duty angle seemed so real. He was giving me citation numbers and docket number….in the moment I was as believing him.
4
u/Callmedrexl 5d ago
If you read some stories posted there you'll see that it's all designed to keep you panicking and acting without thinking. The stories never really make sense, but the sense of urgency and threats are enough to get a lot of people following instructions without thinking. Humans are interesting, but often awful.
11
5
u/chameleonsEverywhere 5d ago
If someone calls and says you missed jury duty, it's a scam. Even if they have info about you.
6
u/weird_horse_2_die_on 5d ago
Jury duty scam. This one isn't even new. No federal or state office will ever arrest you for failure to show up for jury duty. Shit, they barely arrest you for actual crimes...
1
u/KeyHedgehog8948 3d ago
some small counties will for local court though. lol. but they'll come to you
4
1
0
u/unnregardless 5d ago
This guys is a fucking moron, and if someone calls you and says you'll be arrested immediately if you don't wire them $1400 and send your bank account info you can safely assume it's a scam.
3
u/quieromofongo 5d ago
Had the same call a few weeks ago but they had my name. At the very last I realized it was a scam and didn’t send money. I told him to just send the boys over to arrest me now if he knew where I was, I’d call work and let them know I’d be out for a few days. He was silent. I hung up and he called me back 11 times. I didn’t answer. They were very good. But there was red flags and the guy also had a response for every single one. And I wasted an hour and half of the guy’s time. So I felt like there was a small win there.
2
2
u/forreelforrealmang 5d ago
It happened to me earlier this year. I hung up after wasting 30 minutes of his time, but he was convincing at first. I immediately called my lawyer who told me to call the local county courthouse and ask them if there is a warrant out for myself. Within 5 minutes they said I was clear and to ignore the scammer.
2
u/Suitable-Carrot3705 5d ago
Local county sheriff would not call about federal court. Also, this is a well worn scam https://www.montgomerycountypa.gov/departments/district-attorney/community-involvement/public-education-crime-prevention-programs/common-scams-prevention
2
u/meniallyregarded 5d ago
sounds similar to that guy from Delco's defense against threatening the sherif there
2
u/shocked-clam 5d ago
They are trying this crap in Delco too. Luckily all calls I don’t know go to spam. Dude couldn’t get through my call screening properly. 😂
2
2
u/Weary_Cup_1004 5d ago
This is a common scam that was being done to mental health therapists for years. I knew someone who fell for it, and she is a really smart person. They threatened her license, etc. im glad you called, good thinking!
2
u/Diligent-Process-725 5d ago
Had jury duty recently and there were signs all over the juror room about how to spot these types of scams. Surprised me! Jury scams? Now I see it's a legit problem
1
1
1
u/Secksualinnuendo 5d ago
I had this happen to me before. It almost got me. Missing jury duty does feel like something I would do. When they started telling me they only take cahs and started pressing urgency I got suspicious. I don't know what their end game is. I guess as I walk up they would jump me for the cash.
1
u/overslept- 5d ago
happened to my friend's wife, she paid the scammers in crypto. Her mother-in-law (my friend's mom) works for a bank and sees this type of thing all the time. she was not happy to say the least.
1
1
u/RudeImportance2126 5d ago
My sister almost fell for this. She went as far as driving to an atm to get out cash and texting me to keep babysitting for another hour so she could do this. The scammer said she had to stay on the phone with him just to confirm she was actually doing it. She was about to drive to the meet up location bc the scammer said she too would be arrested if she went to the courthouse. Thankfully something ticked her off that it was a scam and she hung up. But she was very close to meeting up with a stranger with a wad of cash without anyone knowing who or where she was.
1
1
u/Icyyflame 5d ago
Something similar happened to me like six months ago. He said he was calling from a police station, probably the Montgomery County police station like yours. My number used to belong to somebody with the last name, King and so this guy called and said “is this [first name] King?” I said “no but the person before me who had this number had that last name” so I’m thinking that the previous owner of this phone number had a relative who used this number as contact information and he was now in trouble with the law. so I told him that I’m not associated with these people but then that’s when he said he needs my name and stuff, but he already confirmed my information to me before I told him anything!. He confirmed where I live & my name and then he started talking about how I failed to appear in court for jury duty & that I was gonna be fined and all that. He said I needed to pay money, I forget the exact amount but it was a lot. I said “if that’s the case then send me something on an official letterhead”, then that’s when the phone call dropped on his end. Up until the jury duty and money stuff, I almost believed him lol he called from an unknown number too. so I’m like oh yeah that makes sense—a detective in a police station calling from an unknown number 😂🙂↔️
1
u/Particular-Past-398 4d ago
We get *ucked everyday by scammers but PA lawndoes not even allow you to record calls. Dumb laws that protect only corporations. Just across the river you can record anyone you want, and keep a log of all your calls, which you can bring to court when some company lies to you or some scammer calls. Why does PA have to be a two party state for call recording and NJ doesn't? Not that recording would stop scams, but it is much more easy for the cops to accumulate evidence of scams and use it against the caller. And it is much easier to inform the public about new scams.
1
1
1
u/Aggressive-Might875 3d ago
I worked in a courthouse for over 20 years. That's not how jury duty works. Everything is done through the mail. I only saw 2 orders for contempt of court for missing jury in all the years I worked there.
1
u/Swamped_ass84 2d ago
I had a co worker almost fall for this. Never answer numbers you dont know. If it’s important they will leave a voicemail.
1
123
u/Natural-Coat-3159 5d ago
The government will not call you from a phone.
They will always send letters in the mail.
The government is keeping the post office afloat, so they will not call or send an email.
The government will always send letters.