A woman got a call from her local jail saying she’s in contempt of court. Then a QR code arrived by text, and she realized it was a $50,000 scam

Recently, scammers have been exploiting the civic responsibility and legal framework around jury duty to take people for tens of thousands of dollars. Sabrina (run_sabrina) was a recent target who almost fell for it. She then quickly took to her Instagram to warn her viewers about the scam, gaining hundreds of thousands of views in the process. 

In her post, Sabrina told her viewers, “I want to talk about something crazy that happened to me during my lunch break at work. I got a call from the correctional facility in my town, literally said that on the caller ID, area code matched up.” The caller allegedly claimed she was in contempt of court for missing a jury summons from August. Sabrina was understandably confused, but the situation quickly felt serious when the caller rattled off her personal details. 

“They knew my name, first name, last name, married and maiden. They knew my date of birth. They knew my Social Security number. And they knew my address,” she alleged. She said that the scammers told her she needed to come to the facility immediately to verify her signature and undergo a handwriting exam. They purportedly also said she would be held in a cell during the verification process. 

Officers outside the facility told her it was probably a scam

Sabrina told her viewers that the caller instructed her to stay on the phone to prove she wasn’t a flight risk and threatened to have her booked and fingerprinted, which sent her into a panic. She said she immediately hung up, called a lawyer, and then went to the facility with someone, only to meet two officers outside who seemed just as perplexed as she was.

“And as I was talking to them, I get a text message with a warrant for my arrest and a QR code and they were like, ‘Yeah that’s probably a scam,’” she said. She told her viewers that the sheriff’s office confirmed it was a scam, telling her that people have lost between $20,000 and $50,000 in similar schemes to pay fake bonds. In August, a Florida woman lost $25,000 to a similar jury duty scam after nearly 10 hours on the phone.

In the caption, Sabrina wrote, “I felt like an idiot after the fact, but this person was SO convincing and using all the right legal/criminal talk. Tell your fam & friends to watch out for this one. Also idk why they made me drive to the correctional facility. What a weird a– day. I can’t believe I almost got fake arrested.” 

The comments section was filled with similar stories and helpful advice. One user noted, “The number one biggest ‘tell’ is that they want you to act quickly. They don’t want you to take time to think.” Another commenter added, “I just don’t answer the phone.”

According to The Hill, the Federal Trade Commission and various local authorities have issued official warnings about the jury duty scam that replicates this pattern: A call “followed by a text or email with official-looking documents.” The FTC noted that callers may claim to be a U.S. Marshal or a police officer to sound official. They often use urgency to intimidate victims into paying fake fines.

The FTC advised, per the outlet, that real law enforcement will never text or email an arrest warrant, and will not call to demand payment over the phone using apps, cryptocurrency, or gift cards. Anyone who actually misses jury duty will receive a notice from the court by mail. The FTC recommends hanging up and verifying directly with the local court or sheriff’s office.