Police Warn of Jury Duty Scam Alert

The following information was posted in village of Palatine July 11 e-newsletter. 

If you are contacted by a person via phone indicating you missed a scheduled jury duty court appearance, and are instructed to pay a fine or risk arrest, do not give them any money or personal information.

The caller claims to be court staff or a FBI agent and will ask that you take care of the fine ($300 to $2,000) immediately by going to Wal-Mart, CVS or Walgreens to purchase a “money pack”, which is a type of prepaid credit card. 

You are then instructed to call a specific phone number and read off the number of the money pack card for the payment to be made and the fine to be settled.

If you have any questions or comments about this matter do not hesitate to call 911 or stop into the Palatine Police Department.

Please see the 2 ½ minute video about this scam at http://www.uscourts.gov/JuryDutyScam.