ID Theft Scam

Lady Amarella · Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 3:15 am Post subject: ID Theft Scam

I just heard about this ID scam. Here is what a friend sent me. It was a new one to me, so I thought I'd pass it along in case anyone here hadn't heard of it.

This has been verified by the FBI (their link is also included below). It is spreading fast so be prepared should you get this call. Most of us take those summonses for jury duty seriously, but enough people skip out on their civic duty, that a new and ominous kind of fraud has surfaced.

The caller claims to be a jury coordinator. If you protest that you never received a summons for jury duty, the scammer asks you for your Social Security number and date of birth so he or she can verify the information and cancel the arrest warrant. Give out any of this information and bingo; your identity was just stolen.

The fraud has been reported so far in 11 states, including Oklahoma , Illinois , and Colorado. This (swindle) is particularly insidious because they use intimidation over the phone to try to bully people into giving information by pretending they are with the court system. The FBI and the federal court system have issued nationwide alerts on their web sites, warning consumers about the fraud.

Check it out here: http://www.fbi.gov/page2/june06/jury_scams060206.htm

And here: http://www.snopes.com/crime/fraud/juryduty.asp

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Delilah · Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 6:23 pm Post subject:

Thank you ma'am! This is good to know.
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"Art is science made clear." -Jean Cocteau

Koku · Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 6:46 pm Post subject:

I remember hearing about this, I think it plagued us a few years ago too. You have to be very careful with it, but it should not be a problem now that you know about it. Good warning
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Billgar · Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 12:09 am Post subject:

Yeah! Stuff like this is scary! People could also do this as military recruiters calling to mkae sure you are registered!

Lady Amarella · Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2009 5:00 pm Post subject:

geeze. I never thought of that one. That's my problem, I have no desire to do dastardly deeds, so I am always amazed when I hear of them. They take me completely by surprise 'cause I couldn't have come up with 'that' if I tried.

Hmm, practical jokes however,...

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