Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
CLOVIS — Law enforcement and court officials are warning citizens about a jury duty scam being conducted in the area over the past week.
According to a press release from Kevin Spears, the court executive officer for the 9th Judicial District Court: Somebody claiming to be a law enforcement officer has been calling citizens and alleging that they failed to report to jury duty and are now responsible for paying a fine.
The scammer then gives detailed instructions on how to pay the fine and may even threaten the person with an arrest warrant if they do not provide their financial information, Spears said.
Curry County Undersheriff Mike Reeves said the sheriff’s office has received a few calls in the past week alerting them to the scam, though none of those citizens reported actually sending the scammer any money.
Spears and Reeves warned that these calls are not coming from legitimate law enforcement or court officials.
Spears said the district court primarily contacts potential jurors through U.S. mail and does not ask for Social Security numbers, credit card numbers or any other sensitive information over the phone.
“The sheriff’s office won’t ever solicit money over the phone,” Reeves said. “Neither will the courts or any local government.”
Depending on the amount of money involved, anyone conducting a scam like this could be charged with up to a second-degree felony, Reeves said.
District Attorney Andrea Reeb said her office has never prosecuted anybody for a scam like this because they have not been able to track down the perpetrators or determine where the money is going.
Reeves and Reeb both said these sorts of scams are fairly common. Reeves said the last time he could recall a similar scam being conducted in the area was in February 2017 and Reeb said she receives about two to three calls a year from people she knows either alerting her to a scam or asking for assistance.
Anybody who receives a suspected scam call is advised to contact the sheriff’s office at 575-769-2335.