I Lived It: P&P Editor Jen G Nearly Scammed
Aug 07, 2024 11:10AM ● By Jen Gennaro
People tell me that I'm smart, but I think I'm more of "book smart" than "street smart." Case in point: I was just catching up on some work when my phone rang. The call was a Denham Springs number, and AT&T had "potential scam" alert scrolling across the screen. I sent to voicemail - thrice, but saw a voicemail come through.
"This is Sergeant Jason Campbell with the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office Civil Processing Division. I'm trying to get in contact with a Mrs. Jennifer Gennaro. Please give me a call back when you receive this message. This is concerning an...(clears throat) ongoing liggle...legal matter. (long beep like he hit the keypad with his cheek). Please get in contact with me at your earliest convenience, ma'am."
Naturally, I panicked and sent the voicemail to my attorney cousin, who was on a call and couldn't listen to it. I was too panicked to pick up on the red flags, too, like the mispronunciation of the word "legal," or the absence of a callback number.
I called back and Sergeant Jason (who mumbles and talks fast) told me that I missed two jury duties. There were lots of scary legal words, designed to intimidate and confuse, as scams often do.
Here's the play by play of the scam.
Sarge: Did you receive these notices?
Me: No, sir, I just moved and my mail forwarding isn't working, they told me I had to go in person, it's a whole big thing...
OK ma'am, so the judge actually is holding you in contempt of court, and there are two warrants out for your arrest. You're gonna need to get this taken care of today, ma'am. We're actually going to need you to come down in person to settle this and get that bench warrant dismissed. Your first option is (talks fast and says something about being detained for 21 days until the judge can see me, at which point I can tell him my new address and he may dismiss it). The second option is to come down and pay the fine.
Oh. Oh, dear.
I'm going to transfer you to my captain if you'd like to go with the second option?
Ok, yes.
A moment later, a different voice comes on the line.
Hello, this is Captain Jason Crawford.
Me, wondering why their names are so similar, wants to make a joke, decides against it.
Blah blah blah. You're going to need to come down in person today to pay these fines. I'm seeing a federal fine of $24.67 (me, thinking: Oh, that's not bad.) That's two thousand four hundred and sixty seven dollars. There's a second fine as well for $2478. Now these fines need to be paid in cash from one of our kiosks here. These fines are fully refundable, you'll just need to come down and sign a "warrant alleviation voucher."
At this point, my lawyer cousin locks in and begins calling, but I can't hang up because HELLOOOOO I'm being held in contempt of court, sis. She texts: call me asap. and breathe. this might be a scam. DO NOT pay for anything over the phone.
As if on cue, second Jason says:
Now we know not everyone has cash on hand, so there iiiiiis another option. You'll just have to get your bank or credit union account...
At this point, I snap out of it and start googling, interrupting him.
"So $5,000 cash for missing jury duty? Is this a new rule? I've never heard of this." Jason 2, who also speaks fast, probably from a script or prompt reader, begins to mumble a reply, and I ask his name again. I google it and nothing comes up.
"And what's the address I need to come to again?" Uh, we'll get to that later, he replies. I'm pretty sure I'm being scammed, but not sure enough to yell profanity or call him out, so I just hang up. I call the EBRSO, who affirms that it IS a scam.
My cousin relays that a colleague of hers (also an attorney, perhaps also book smart, not street smart) just got scammed in the exact same manner while they were in a meeting together, and he actually drove two hours to go pay his fine before realizing he was getting scammed.
Closing thoughts here: I have had advertisers from large organizations call, and their numbers also show up as "potential scam" alerts, so it wasn't that crazy to think it could be legit. Second thing, call back the main number from that organization instead of the direct line they called from. Do a little due diligence first. In my case, I would have first called EBRSO, and asked for a Sgt. Campbell. I didn't know until a few minutes into the actual call about the fines, but certainly take a breath whenever someone starts asking for money. Third, according to my attorney (aka my little cousin who is far more grounded than I'll ever be), there are legal processes for fines this big, and they can't just fine you 5k without a trial or hearing. Finally, I'm not sure if they have a more sophisticated process for preying on victims, but if they did, I imagine they'd look up clerk of court records for people with a recent change of address who would have reason to believe their summons wasn't delivered.
That's all, folks. Stay vigilant! Stay street smart! Hang on to your credit cards!
"This is Sergeant Jason Campbell with the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office Civil Processing Division. I'm trying to get in contact with a Mrs. Jennifer Gennaro. Please give me a call back when you receive this message. This is concerning an...(clears throat) ongoing liggle...legal matter. (long beep like he hit the keypad with his cheek). Please get in contact with me at your earliest convenience, ma'am."
Naturally, I panicked and sent the voicemail to my attorney cousin, who was on a call and couldn't listen to it. I was too panicked to pick up on the red flags, too, like the mispronunciation of the word "legal," or the absence of a callback number.
I called back and Sergeant Jason (who mumbles and talks fast) told me that I missed two jury duties. There were lots of scary legal words, designed to intimidate and confuse, as scams often do.
Here's the play by play of the scam.
Sarge: Did you receive these notices?
Me: No, sir, I just moved and my mail forwarding isn't working, they told me I had to go in person, it's a whole big thing...
OK ma'am, so the judge actually is holding you in contempt of court, and there are two warrants out for your arrest. You're gonna need to get this taken care of today, ma'am. We're actually going to need you to come down in person to settle this and get that bench warrant dismissed. Your first option is (talks fast and says something about being detained for 21 days until the judge can see me, at which point I can tell him my new address and he may dismiss it). The second option is to come down and pay the fine.
Oh. Oh, dear.
I'm going to transfer you to my captain if you'd like to go with the second option?
Ok, yes.
A moment later, a different voice comes on the line.
Hello, this is Captain Jason Crawford.
Me, wondering why their names are so similar, wants to make a joke, decides against it.
Blah blah blah. You're going to need to come down in person today to pay these fines. I'm seeing a federal fine of $24.67 (me, thinking: Oh, that's not bad.) That's two thousand four hundred and sixty seven dollars. There's a second fine as well for $2478. Now these fines need to be paid in cash from one of our kiosks here. These fines are fully refundable, you'll just need to come down and sign a "warrant alleviation voucher."
At this point, my lawyer cousin locks in and begins calling, but I can't hang up because HELLOOOOO I'm being held in contempt of court, sis. She texts: call me asap. and breathe. this might be a scam. DO NOT pay for anything over the phone.
As if on cue, second Jason says:
Now we know not everyone has cash on hand, so there iiiiiis another option. You'll just have to get your bank or credit union account...
At this point, I snap out of it and start googling, interrupting him.
"So $5,000 cash for missing jury duty? Is this a new rule? I've never heard of this." Jason 2, who also speaks fast, probably from a script or prompt reader, begins to mumble a reply, and I ask his name again. I google it and nothing comes up.
"And what's the address I need to come to again?" Uh, we'll get to that later, he replies. I'm pretty sure I'm being scammed, but not sure enough to yell profanity or call him out, so I just hang up. I call the EBRSO, who affirms that it IS a scam.
My cousin relays that a colleague of hers (also an attorney, perhaps also book smart, not street smart) just got scammed in the exact same manner while they were in a meeting together, and he actually drove two hours to go pay his fine before realizing he was getting scammed.
Closing thoughts here: I have had advertisers from large organizations call, and their numbers also show up as "potential scam" alerts, so it wasn't that crazy to think it could be legit. Second thing, call back the main number from that organization instead of the direct line they called from. Do a little due diligence first. In my case, I would have first called EBRSO, and asked for a Sgt. Campbell. I didn't know until a few minutes into the actual call about the fines, but certainly take a breath whenever someone starts asking for money. Third, according to my attorney (aka my little cousin who is far more grounded than I'll ever be), there are legal processes for fines this big, and they can't just fine you 5k without a trial or hearing. Finally, I'm not sure if they have a more sophisticated process for preying on victims, but if they did, I imagine they'd look up clerk of court records for people with a recent change of address who would have reason to believe their summons wasn't delivered.
That's all, folks. Stay vigilant! Stay street smart! Hang on to your credit cards!