Jury duty prank reported in Mecklenburg
By Steve Lyttle
[email protected]
Posted: Thursday, Jul. 05, 2012
Court officials in Mecklenburg County are warning the public about a telephone prank being played on local residents involving jury duty.
The prank is not a scam and does not involve money, but it is causing residents to become upset, court officials say.
According to court spokesman Charles Keller, residents have been receiving text messages and emails, saying they have missed their scheduled jury duty dates and could be fined $500 or receive jail sentences of up to 30 days.
The messages contain telephone numbers to call, and when people call the number, they are told that the message is a prank -- but only if they listen to the very end of the recorded message.
“The message received by the caller sounds very convincing, and if the caller does not listen to the entire message, they will not be given the information that it is meant to be a joke,” Keller said.
He said court officials have received a number of phone calls from worried residents.
The prank telephone numbers are 704-319-7259, 704-319-7254, and 704-319-7242.
Keller said telephone scams in the past have been used to get personal information from residents. He said jury management staff never contact residents by phone or email and ask for Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, or other sensitive information.
Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/07/05/3 ... l#storylink=cpy