South Florida man falls victim to jury duty scam, loses $4,500
MIAMI - The scammer poses as a law enforcement officer and claims the victim is about to be arrested for not appearing for jury duty but can avoid it by paying a fine.
"This happened to my cousin, someone very close to me, someone who's very educated," said Ana Quincoces, an attorney and reality TV personality who told CBS News Miami her cousin missed jury duty about three weeks ago, so when he received the call on Monday he did not have any doubts.
The Broward Sheriff's Office is investigating this incident. The scammer identified himself as a BSO deputy.
"They left him a message initially, asked him to call back so now you're feeling more confident because you have a callback number," said Quincoces who spoke on behalf of his cousin, who did call back.
They told him that the Broward Sheriff's Office is helping the Broward County Court House and by not showing up to jury duty, he would receive a warrant for his arrest or so the crook claimed. The victim asked what he could do to avoid that.
Quincoces said her cousin was told: "You need to post a bond in order to keep the officers from coming to your home."
The bond was set at $4,500. He was asked to go to a Winn Dixie on Hallandale Beach Blvd., find a coin machine and send the money.
BSO was notified about this scam.
"The Broward Sheriff's Office will never solicit you for money, whether the scammer alleges an issue with jury duty or an outstanding warrant, this is not what we do," told CBS News Miami Claudinne Caro, Public Information Officer for B.S.O.
"Never send money, always protect your personal information, do not share your bank account and always report to local authorities."
ANA Quincoces said: "What I would like from this is that if somebody gets this call they go…ehh, nah! I already saw this on CBS, you're not going to scam me!"