Some Minnesota residents are being targeted by scammers who threaten that they will be punished if they do not attend Jury Duty. Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Lorie S. Gildea is urging Minnesotans to be aware of these type of scams.  She went to to say " Jury duty is an important civic honor" but unfortunately these scammers are using this civic duty to get money and important personal information.

Counties and District courts around the state are hearing once again that these scammers have been using fraudulent phone calls and e-mails threatening citizens with fines, prosecution or even imprisonment for failure to comply with jury duty at the state or federal level.

They are demanding that a citizen provide payment or to divulge private information that the scammer can use for identity theft purposes. Chief Justice Gildea reminds everyone that if you are ever summoned for jury duty initial contact will always be made by US Mail in the form of a juror summons from a Minnesota District Court. Minnesota courts would never contact someone by phone or e-mail and ask for payment of fines, Social Security numbers, credit card information, or any other sensitive information in response to missed jury duty.

Any person receiving a suspicious phone call or e-mail seeking financial or private data related to jury duty or missed jury duty is asked to call your local sheriff's office immediately. For more information about jury duty in the state of Minnesota CLICK HERE 

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