The US Courts has received word of a jury scam that broke on Thursday, May 4 regarding individuals impersonating Federal Court and Kootenai County Sheriff Officials.  Another report indicates scammers are also impersonating US Marshal Service and US Attorney's Office staff.  Scammers tell their victims they have failed to report for jury duty on a grand jury summons and must pay a cash fine in order to avoid jail time.  The full story is available on KXLY's website. 

How to know you are being scammed:

1.  The Federal Courts will never call you to demand a cash fine for failure to appear. 

2.  Most jury scams involve victims being instructed to go to local store (e.g., Walmart, Fred Meyer) to either purchase cash cards and provide the information to the scammer, or to wire funds directly to the scammer.  Victims are advised to not alert the store employees as to the purpose of the transaction.  The Federal Courts have been in contact with many of the larger stores to alert them to these scams and warn individuals.  

Citizens receiving these calls can defend themselves by simply hanging up the phone and contacting the Federal Jury Administrator for the District of Idaho at 208-334-1493 or 1-800-448-6172.  These matters are turned over to the United States Marshal's Office.