THE SCAM
The jury-duty warrant that isn't real.
You get a call from someone who says they're a sheriff's deputy, a court officer, or the county clerk. You missed jury duty, they say, and now there's a warrant out for your arrest. But here's the good news: you can clear it up right now by paying a fine over the phone — gift cards, a wire transfer, or a payment app. They might use a real deputy's name, a badge number, and a spoofed caller ID so the whole thing looks official. None of it is real. The warrant is made up, the urgency is theater, and the payment method is the whole point.
THE RED FLAG
Courts do not collect fines over the phone, and no real officer demands payment in gift cards, crypto, or a payment app. That alone ends the story. The scammer's real weapon is the clock: "pay in the next twenty minutes or we're coming to arrest you" is designed to keep you from doing the one thing that kills the scam — hanging up and calling the courthouse yourself on a number you looked up.
THE RULE
Hang up, then verify. Look up the court or sheriff's office number on your own — never call back the number that called you — and ask whether any warrant exists. It won't. Then report the call to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov so the next person gets warned faster.
(Source: FTC consumer alerts; long-documented jury-duty impersonation scam pattern)
SIGN-OFF
That's today's red flag. One scam, one red flag, one rule — pass it to someone who clicks first and asks questions later.
Got a scam text or a sketchy email? Send it via the contact page — the best ones make future red flags.