Scammers are lighting up phones across Crook County, posing as court or law enforcement officials and demanding instant cash for supposed jury duty violations, authorities warned Monday. The sheriff’s office says callers are threatening arrest or steep fines unless people pay on the spot, and they logged more than eight reports of the scheme in a single day. The message from officials: do not pay and do not share your personal information.
According to the Crook County Sheriff’s Office, the script is blunt: callers tell residents they missed a jury summons, claim a warrant has been issued, then crank up the pressure to pay, often demanding gift cards, cryptocurrency or other hard-to-trace methods. Local coverage by KTVZ notes that deputies are urging anyone who gets one of these calls to hang up and verify the story themselves by calling the sheriff’s office directly at 541-447-6398.
Courts Won't Call to Demand Payment
The Oregon Judicial Department stresses that legitimate juror notices are mailed, not phoned in. Courts will not call to demand money, ask for gift card or cryptocurrency payments, or threaten arrest over the phone. The Crook County jury page lists local juror contacts and the courthouse reporting location so residents can double-check any summons they receive. Federal court guidance echoes the same warning that any phone request for payment in lieu of arrest is fraudulent.
How the Scam Works
Scammers frequently spoof caller ID so it looks like the call is coming from a real government number and may drop the names of actual deputies or court clerks to sound convincing. They lean on urgency so targets feel too rattled to stop and verify anything. Then comes the ask: buy gift cards, move cryptocurrency, or use peer-to-peer payment apps, all favored because they are tough to trace or reverse, local officials say. The Federal Trade Commission advises people to hang up, save any voicemails or screenshots, and report the incident through its online portal.
What to Do If You Get the Call
If someone calls claiming you missed jury duty and need to pay immediately, hang up. Do not send money, do not read off numbers from any cards, and do not share personal or financial details. To check whether a claim is real, call the Crook County Sheriff’s Office directly at 541-447-6398 (ask for front office, option 6), or contact the Crook County jury coordinator at 541-447-6541, in line with the guidance on the Oregon Judicial Department jury page. If you think you have already been scammed, contact your bank and file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission or the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center.
Similar schemes have popped up elsewhere in Oregon this spring, including a February alert about phone fakes posing as Marion County cops, suggesting these impostor calls are an ongoing headache across the state. Residents are urged to keep an eye on official county or court channels and use the numbers above to verify anything that sounds the slightest bit off.
