In the last year and a half, the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office
has issued Scam Alerts for Jury/Warrant Scams 13 times. This shows that
scammers are hitting Snohomish County citizens hard with their claims of
missing jury duty or that there is a warrant out for their arrest. To make the
warrant go away the scammer always wants payment with gift cards, wire
transfers, or crypto currency. All methods of payments that are not traceable
or reversable.
The latest scam involves potential victims receiving text messages
on their phones with links to supposed court documents with legal sounding
gibberish.
According to a Sheriff’s Office spokesperson, about a dozen people
a day have come into the Sheriff’s office to report or ask about the scam for
the last six months. On average, Sheriff’s Office staff report scammers
stealing between $3,000 to $6,000 daily from county citizens.
The scammers claim to be actual county employees, deputies,
sergeants, lieutenants, and the fake documents claim to be signed by district
court judges. And as usual, the scammers want immediate payment in the form of
bitcoin or gift cards.
Remember:
·
Warrants are only served in person, never online. And the cops
will not call to see if you are available to have the warrant served.
·
Law enforcement will never demand immediate payment over the
phone, via email, or via text message.
·
Neither law enforcement nor the courts will accept payment in the
form of bitcoin, gift cards, or via a mobile app.
If you receive a call from someone claiming to be from local law
enforcement threatening immediate arrest hang up. If you receive a text or an
email from a supposed local law enforcement agency threatening arrest or
demanding money, block that text/email and do not click on any links.
Let the Sheriff’s Office know what happened. Also, report the scam
to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center- https://www.ic3.gov/.
This has been a persistent problem for our county for the last
year and a half or more. The Sheriff’s office asks that you let your family and
friends know about the scam and let them know that this scam can happen to
them.
Note: The use of fake court documents with the legal sounding
gibberish is a new twist to this long running scam. In another twist, the
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently reported that scammers have been
directing potential victims to an official looking website. The site looks
legitimate, with government-looking seals (but fake), and an official-looking URL.
The site asks you to enter your birthdate and Social Security number (a way to
collect your personal information) to “look up how much you owe.” It might ask
you to pay up to $10,000 in fines through the site or it might send you to a
“government kiosk” (no such thing) to pay by cryptocurrency.
FOX 13: https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/scammers-impersonating-judges-fbi-deputies?utm_campaign=trueAnthem%20Manual&utm_medium=trueanthem&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwY2xjawMDGgFleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFTMDZqcE96M05tYnUzc2dMAR4BAXyIRxU2v4-gs0MIOFSdaTK0lyTYOKjdwEEiYTKF00pWozkTPREGB6Vulg_aem_u3cdko-jh0DNhiXsIVw2eA
The Seattle Times:
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/scammers-use-fake-court-documents-to-steal-thousands-in-snohomish-county/
Federal Trade Commission:
https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2025/08/scammers-are-using-fake-websites-twist-jury-duty-scams
