Scam callers are using the Gaines County Sheriff's Office real phone number to claim you missed jury duty, so a genuine-looking caller ID is not proof.
If a call from your local sheriff's office says you missed jury duty, it may be a scam. In Gaines County, Texas, someone is calling residents from the sheriff's real phone number, (432) 758-9871, and calling himself "Deputy Peterson." The sheriff's office says it has received multiple scam calls using its number.
The caller tells people they missed jury duty and must report to the Gaines County Sheriff's Office. The number on the screen is the station's actual number. That makes the call look real at a glance. The office says the number keeps calling the station itself.
Many people check caller ID to decide whether a call is real. Here, that check fails. Scammers can make a call appear to come from a number that is not theirs. A threat from a deputy about a legal problem can also make people act fast, before they stop to think. The report does not say how much money anyone has lost, or whether anyone has paid.
People outside Gaines County are not the named target of this particular campaign. Even so, the same trick can be used with any local police or court number. If you get a call about jury duty and a penalty, the same caution applies wherever you live.
The alert box above lists the steps. The short version: hang up, pay nothing over the phone, and do not rely on caller ID. If you are worried, find the office's number yourself and call it directly.
The report does not say who is behind the calls, how many residents have been reached, or what the caller asks for after the jury duty claim. It also does not say when the calls began or when they might stop. The sheriff's office asks residents to ignore the calls.
A call that shows a real police number can still be fake, so hang up and never pay anyone over the phone who says you owe a penalty.
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