A new scam alert to warn you about. It's called vishing, a combination of the words voice and phishing. It goes down something like this: The criminals call you posing as officers of the court to say that a bench warrant has been issued for your arrest because you missed jury duty.
Todd Davis, the CEO of Lifelock - a valley based company that works to prevent identity theft - just sent out a warning about this vishing scam to 60,000 Lifelock members. He says this is not a new scam, however, it is gaining new momentum in 7 or 8 states including Arizona. Davis says this particular vishing scam targets seniors who tend to be very civic minded.
Once the scammers get you on the phone and tell you that you failed to show up for jury duty, they confirm your address then fish for personal information including social security number and date of birth. After that, they ask for a debit or credit card number in an effort to "clear up any court fees".
Davis says sadly a lot of people are falling for this scam. He warns, "Once a criminal has your personal information, you have to worry for the rest of your life; Who else has it? How will they use it next time?"
Below is the Scam Alert LifeLock sent out to it's members
LIFELOCK SCAM ALERT
Type:
Jury Duty Vishing Scam
Method of Delivery:
Phone call from an alleged court officer
Primary Region Effecgted:
Reports from 11 states, including: Florida, New York, Minnesota, Illinois, Colorado, Oregon, California, Virginia, Oklahoma, Arizona, and New Hampshire; may spread nationally
Source:
Federal Bureau of Investigation (www.fbi.gov <http://www.fbi.gov/>)
Scam Characteristics:
A caller identifies him/herself as an officer of the court and notifies the victim that a warrant has been issued for their arrest for a failure to report for jury duty. If the victim protests they have never received a summons for jury duty, the scammer asks for a Social Security number and date of birth to verify the victim's identity and cancel the arrest warrant. This fraud is spreading quickly and has been reported in 11 states so far.
Recommended Precautions:
Be Suspicious
These vishing scams (a combination of the words "voice" and "phishing") are designed to get you to provide criminals with your personal and financial information. Most organizations will not ask you to provide your sensitive information during an unsolicited phone call, so any caller that does should immediately send up a red flag.
Never Provide Your Sensitive Information to Unsolicited Callers
Sensitive information includes your Social Security number, your credit card or debit card numbers, your birth date or birthplace, your vehicle registration plate number, and any other information you wish to keep private.
Contact the Court in Question
To determine the legitimacy of the call, contact the court in question at a number that can be found in the phone book, on a phone directory website, or by calling directory assistance.
Sensitive information includes your Social Security number, your credit card or debit card numbers, your birth date or birthplace, your vehicle registration plate n umber, and any other information you wish to keep private.
For more information about LifeLock you can visit their website www.lifelock.com
