What Federal Courts Say About Jury-Duty Scam Calls

Federal courts state that they do not require anyone to give sensitive personal information over the phone or by email, and that communications threatening a fine for missing jury duty and seeking such information are fraudulent and unconnected to the U.S. courts (U.S. Courts).

This original record-reading guide is a general reading aid, not cited evidence. It does not depict a source record; the article text and source links provide the facts.

Key points

• Federal courts “do not require anyone to provide any sensitive information in a telephone call or email” (U.S. Courts).
• Legitimate contact from a federal court to a prospective juror is “mostly” by U.S. mail; real phone or email contact “will not include requests for any sensitive information” (U.S. Courts).
• A call or email threatening a fine for a missed jury summons and asking for personal details is fraudulent and not connected to the U.S. courts (U.S. Courts).
• Anyone who gets such a call or email should not hand over the requested information and should notify their local U.S. District Court’s Clerk of Court’s office (U.S. Courts).
• The page also says reports may go to the Federal Trade Commission (U.S. Courts).

Court contact limits

The U.S. Courts’ guidance on juror scams is direct about what a legitimate court contact will not include: “Federal courts do not require anyone to provide any sensitive information in a telephone call or email” (https://www.uscourts.gov/court-programs/jury-service/juror-scams). That single sentence is the anchor for everything else on the page — it draws the line between what a real court does and what a scammer does.

Official court contact

The same page describes the normal channel for jury-related communication: “Most contact between a federal court and a prospective juror will be through the U.S. mail, and any phone or email contact by real court officials will not include requests for any sensitive information” (https://www.uscourts.gov/court-programs/jury-service/juror-scams). In other words, mail is the primary channel, and even the exceptions — a legitimate phone call or email — still will not ask for sensitive data.

Scam-call warning

Scam calls and emails that threaten a fine or penalty for missing jury duty, and then ask for personal or financial details, do not come from the courts. The guidance states it without qualification: “These communications are fraudulent and are not connected with the U.S. courts” (https://www.uscourts.gov/court-programs/jury-service/juror-scams).

Reader actions

The U.S. Courts’ guidance gives two concrete steps. First, don’t comply: “Persons receiving such a telephone call or email should not provide the requested information and should immediately notify the Clerk of Court’s office of the U.S. District Court in their area” (https://www.uscourts.gov/court-programs/jury-service/juror-scams). Second, there is an optional additional report: “You may also report a scam or suspicious communications to the Federal Trade Commission” (https://www.uscourts.gov/court-programs/jury-service/juror-scams).

What this article does not answer

This article restates only what the federal judiciary’s published guidance says about jury-duty scam calls and emails in general. It does not evaluate whether any particular call or email is actually a scam, address an individual’s jury summons or juror status, or explain how to recover money already sent to a scammer.

Source links

• U.S. Courts — Juror Scams Guidance