Hudson Valley police warn of 'jury duty' phone scam
Police urge you to never give out the personal or payment information the scammers are demanding.
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There is a warning about a concerning phone scam making its way around the Hudson Valley. It involves a caller pretending to be a police officer - and that's not all.
Whether it's through an actual call or a text, Stephanie, from White Plains, says she gets a lot of scam messages.
"Every single day, multiple times a day," Stephanie tells News 12.
She is far from alone.
"I would probably say within 5 to 10 times a week, it's very annoying. I always wonder how they get my number," said another White Plains resident.
Now, there's another scam making its way through the area.
The caller claims to be a police officer. That scammer tells the person on the other line, they failed to show up for jury duty and now must pay a fine to avoid getting arrested.
Multiple police departments are seeing this, like in Tuckahoe and Harrison.
"That's one of the games to make you act quickly. They make it scary, they make it sound very official," says Walter Brewster, who is with the Better Business Bureau serving metropolitan New York.
Brewster says if you get one of these calls, hang up and contact the actual source the scammer claims to be from.
"Go to the county's jurors office, they're more than happy to tell you if they want you. They will also tell you they have no idea what you're talking about, it's not us,” Brewster explains.
Police urge you to never give out the personal or payment information the scammers are demanding.
