District Court warns public about potential phone scam

Douglas County has become aware of a potential phone scam where the caller claims to be District Court and then says the person needs to pay a fine or they will be arrested because they missed jury duty. Douglas County District Court will never seek payment or have someone arrested for missing jury duty.

If you are a victim of a scam, contact the Kansas Attorney General’s Office – Consumer Protection Division at 785-296-2215 or https://www.ag.ks.gov/in-your-corner-kansas.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office offers the following tips to avoid being the victim of a scam:

• Always verify information by calling the agency directly. You can call 785-832-5254 to speak with the Douglas County jury coordinator about any phone calls or documents you receive pertaining to jury duty.
• If someone purporting to be a law enforcement officer or with a government entity is threatening you with an arrest or seizure of property unless you pay a sum of money – especially on the same day - it is a scam.
• Beware of mailers that include typos, errors in grammar or generic names and phone numbers that don’t seem to match the agency or organization reported to be contacting you.
• Avoid unusual payment methods such as Bitcoin, gift cards or requests to wire money. Keep your personal information private as well, including Social Security numbers and account numbers, unless you have called the official government agency using a number you independently verified.

For the missed jury duty or other instances where a caller claims you have a "warrant," they are preying on people's good nature and seeking to cause confusion especially if you are not familiar with the legal system, Douglas County Sheriff Jay Armbrister said. If you do have a warrant, law enforcement will not call you and especially not ask you to resolve it by paying money immediately over the phone. The best thing to do is hang up and call the agency independently at their verified phone number.