Bexar County residents warned about jury duty scam

SAN ANTONIO (KTSA News) – Jury duty in Bexar County is virtual these days because of the pandemic, but that’s not stopping thieves from running the old jury duty scam.

They’ll call and try to convince you that you’re in trouble for not reporting for jury duty and then demand that you go to a store and purchase a Green Dot Card or money order to pay a bogus fine or face getting arrested.

“These callers may sound very convincing,” said Tom Peine in the Bexar County manager’s office. “They use names of  actual judges or other county officials or law enforcement officials.”

The people behind the jury duty scam appear to be calling people at random, whether they’ve been summoned for jury duty or not.

“The callers will typically attempt to intimidate the person and say that if they don’t pay a fine, which can be up to several thousand dollars, law enforcement supposedly will come and arrest them,” said Peine.

Failure to fulfill your jury duty obligation could result in penalties, but Peine says county authorities will not call  and demand that you pay a fine over the phone with a Green Dot card, so if you get one of these phone calls, hang up and call the Central Jury Office at 210-335-2667.