HENRY COUNTY, Va. (WFXR) — The Henry County Sheriff’s Office warns residents of an ongoing phone scam threatening individuals for not appearing for jury duty.
Scammers are posing as county sheriff deputies and threatening to arrest them unless they make a payment. The scammers then assisted them with the process of purchasing a prepaid card or making an electronic payment to avoid the “potential arrest.”
Sheriff Lane Perry advises individuals to be cautious of providing personally identifiable information over the phone and/or via text message. To convince the victim the call is real, Sheriff Perry claims scammers oftentimes provide information that may seem authentic including personal information such as home & work addresses, dates of birth, as well as such as court phone numbers, and case & badge numbers. Perry notes that it is also possible for scammers to spoof the phone number of the sheriff’s office, so it appears as a legitimate message under caller ID settings.
The Henry County Sheriff’s Office says that it is not customary for deputies to contact citizens and ask for payment or personal information by phone, instead deputies personally serve grand jury summons. If a resident is scheduled to serve on a grand jury or jury duty, paperwork will be received at your residence from the Sheriff’s Office. Additionally, if there is a warrant for an individual’s arrest, deputies will show up at their house unannounced.
Court and law enforcement officers will never ask for a credit card or debit card number, wire transfers, or bank routing number over the phone. Anyone who has been a victim of a scam or has information on possible scammers is asked to contact the Henry County Sheriff’s Office at 276-638-8751.
