Officials warn of ongoing jury scam in Summit County

SUMMIT COUNTY, Ohio — Officials are warning Summit County residents of an uptick in reports involving a jury call scam.

Summit County Executive Ilene Shapiro said the scam involves “spoofing” so it appears that the scammer is calling from a law enforcement or government agency. 

Scammers claim the call recipient has a warrant out for their arrest because they missed serving jury duty and that they must immediately pay a large fine to avoid jail time. 

Officials said for those who receive a call sounding similar to this, the most important step to take is to stop and hang up the phone.

“We know it feels counterintuitive because so many people want to take care of business and not be in trouble, especially when the scammer is so forceful in their urgency,” Shapiro said in a Facebook post. “But scammers exploit the good intentions of regular people who just want to do the right thing, and taking a pause & hanging up is the simplest, best way to thwart these scams.”

Officials said the next step is to call a trusted source, alert the authorities and to pass on the tips to friends and families. 

“Summit County government offices do not accept payment in gift cards, prepaid credit cards or cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin,” Shapiro’s post read. “Summit County will not call you about an outstanding warrant, and we do not issue summons for missed jury duty.”