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Phone scam uses jury duty
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A scam using the jury system as a means to scare prospective victims is making its rounds and, in at least one case, has actually been tried on a current juror.“I got a call from a woman who was beside herself, telling me someone had called saying she had missed jury duty,” said Circuit Court Clerk Bernie Morris. “The phone call gave her the option of pushing one button to pay a $500 fine, or another button to serve 30 days in jail.”Morris said when she found out the woman was actually a juror, she passed the case on to the district attorney’s office since such incidents could constitute the crime of jury tampering.“We will never call and tell a juror they have to pay a fine or go to jail,” Morris said. “We send out notifications of jury service.”Morris said she believes whoever is making the calls is trying to scam money and is not actually going off any jury list, but is instead calling people at random.