People in Helena are being targeted by scammers who claim the Federal Courts want to arrest them for missing jury duty. At least one person in Helena has sent money to a PayPal account to settle a non-existent arrest warrant supposedly issued by the U.S. District Court.
Chief Deputy Beth Conley with the court in Missoula says victims are getting phone calls from an official-sounding person claiming to be with the federal court system. The caller says the victim has been named in an arrest warrant because they failed to respond to a jury summons, but the case can be settled, by paying a fine online through a PayPal account.
It’s a scam, and most people don’t fall for it. Conley says the scam artists appear to be targeting only people in Helena for now, but people in other parts of the state might get calls soon.
Court officials are concerned because the scam is happening at the same time the court is sending real jury notices through the mail. Courts always contact potential jurors initially through the mail.
If you think you’ve been targeted by this scam, call the jury administrator at 1-800-296-6577.