Despite constant warnings, the ‘jury duty’ scam continues to impact Yavapai County residents and calls have been especially heavy over the last 2 weeks. The scam involves a suspect who calls unwitting victims and advises that a warrant has been issued for their arrest because of missed jury duty.
In a majority of the incidents reported, the caller/suspect has identified himself as an employee of the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office or just Sheriff’s Office. Many who receive such calls are aware of the scam and simply hang up.
Several days ago, YCSO deputies were called to a home in Cornville to meet with a 28-year-old woman victimized in the scam. She had received a call from the ‘Sheriff’s Office’ and was told she missed jury duty and that a warrant had been issued for her arrest. The suspect explained that $2000 was necessary to dismiss the warrant and directed her to buy prepaid credit cards from a local store and deposit them into a kiosk at the Sheriff’s Office on Gurley Street in Prescott. The victim purchased two $500 prepaid cards with cash as a down payment and provided the card numbers to the suspect over the phone for verification. After speaking with the deputy to confirm she had been scammed, the victim attempted to cancel the pre-paid cards but it was too late as the money had been withdrawn.
During follow-up the next day, the victim explained she had been contacted again by the suspect to obtain the balance of $1000. She declined. The suspect identified himself as ‘Deputy Alan Scott.’ There is no one at YCSO by name. Detectives are attempting to identify a suspect through phone records.