Jury Duty Scam Making the Rounds in Yakima County-Don’t Fall for It
It's another scam to be aware of, the jury duty scam. Don't fall for it.
A Facebook post from the Yakima County Sheriff's Office is warning area residents of the old “You missed a court date, you missed jury selection, you need to pay us or we will arrest you” scam. It is just that, a SCAM. Wouldn't it be great if we had a warning? Oh, wait. This is your warning.
A scammer has been calling citizens of Yakima County trying to separate them from their hard-earned money. The scammer is pretending to be Deputy Cory Sanderson or Deputy Bercorsky from our office informing them about warrants for their arrest for missing a court date. We don’t have a Deputy Sanderson or Bercosky at our office.
Please do NOT fall for this scam. The Police will NEVER take payments over the phone for warrants. They will NEVER ask you to pay with gift cards. No one in authority will ever ask you to send gift cards for payment.
No one in authority will advise what type of gift card to shop for. This is a MAJOR RED FLAG. Scammers reach out through social media platforms to unsuspecting victims. Oftentimes, it's the elderly who are targeted.
Don't ever send gift cards as payment to anyone you don't know. If you have any questions about callers who are requesting payment for anything, reach out to your local Police department for assistance.