It's the season most commonly known for scamming… and this year a jury duty phone scam has residents believing they’ve missed their jury duty date resulting in large sums of money.
St. Mary Parish Sheriff's Office Public Information Officer David Spencer said multiple victims in St. Mary Parish began receiving phone calls from a person identifying themselves as a sheriff.
Victims were being told they owed money after missing thier jury duty court date and had a warrant out for their arrest. Some victims paying anywhere from $1,200 to $1,800 dollars. Spencer gave tips on how to tell when its a scammer.
"Remember with law enforcement agencies, with ours and others as well is if they get to a point where they’re asking you to pay some money, that should be a big red flag where this is not right,” Spencer said.
“Cause we’re not gonna ask you to pay money. If you owe money you know for something like a ticket, or you gotta pay your taxes or whatever, nobody’s gonna call you and say ‘hey lets do that over the phone’ you know you come into the office or you can go to the website and take care of that. But no one employee is gonna call you up and demand money."
Spencer said the court will reach out to you if you miss your court date and not a sheriff.
The St. Mary Parish Sherriff’s office advises you to call your local law enforcement agency if you receive a phone call like this.
