Tuesday, October 30 - Resort Police Warn Of Jury Duty Scam

OCEAN CITY - Resort police this week are warning local residents to be wary of an identity theft scam during which the victims are told they have missed jury duty and threats of arrest warrants are made in a nefarious scheme that was reported over a year ago but made its first appearance in Ocean City just this week.

The Ocean City Police Department today issued a warning to local residents to be on the lookout for an identity theft scam wherein callers representing themselves as officers of the court intimidate victims into giving up personal information or run the risk of being arrested. Earlier this week, an Ocean City resident received two separate telephone calls from an unidentified person claiming to be with the U.S. government.

During the conversation, the unidentified caller said the victim had failed to appear for jury duty and then disclosed the victim's correct social security number. The victim observed the caller identification information displayed on their telephone including a 703 area code as well as the words 'U.S. government.'

The victim became suspicious of the caller due to requests for additional personal information including date of birth and credit card information. The victim reported the suspicious incidents to the Ocean City Police Department, which has begun an investigation into the scam locally. The jury duty scam first surfaced in 2005 and has been reported in several other areas of the country since then. The FBI has issued formal warnings to the public about the scam, but this week's calls in Ocean City were the first ever reported in the resort area.

For the complete story, see Friday's print edition or on-line edition of The Dispatch.