(WXYZ) — The years-old jury duty scam is still circulating in metro Detroit, but it's also evolving with a new twist to distract and throw off potential victims.
I've covered this issue repeatedly, along with various other government impersonator or impostor scams that aim to steal your money.
See the full story in the video below
Jackie Lang, the owner of The Energy Zone in Detroit, emailed 7 News Detroit to let us know that her daughter, Rachel, had been targeted by scammers on April 27. It all started with a phone call claiming to be from the Wayne County Sheriff's Office about Rachel's arrest warrant for jury duty evasion.
"The fines associated with your missing jury duty amounted to how much?" I asked.
"22,000," Rachel said.
"What was going through your mind as this was happening?" I asked.
"Anxiety is on 10, completely anxious, completely upset. You know, I started crying at one point," she said.
Watch below: My past story on Oakland County Sheriff warning of missing jury duty scam
The scammers texted her the fake arrest warrant along with other official-looking documents, including a "Confidentiality and Nondisclosure Suppression Order," and a "Make and Maintain Contact Order," pressuring her to stay on the phone and not talk to anyone else.
"Their tone was not urgent. How were they presenting themselves?” I asked.
"Their tone was the opposite of urgent. They almost sounded bored," Rachel explained. "Very calm, very cool, very collected. And he said 10-4 way too many. I've never heard a cop say 10-4 that many times. That was another red flag."
The scammer said she needed to get to the sheriff's office to pay bail and receive a warrant dismissal receipt, but new steps were added — like withdrawing $4,000 from her bank and taking it to a "secure kiosk." The scammer even texted her a flyer showing the kiosks with a smiling deputy leaning against one of the kiosks.
The newest twist in the scam came when she agreed to start driving from one place to another.
"They wanted your odometer reading. Why?" I asked.
"Yes, they, what they told me was they were going to reimburse me for my mileage," she said.
The scammer finally sent her to a liquor store to find a kiosk, which ended up being a Bitcoin machine. Pop-up warnings on the screen got her attention.
Watch below: My past coverage on a tether scam twist in metro Detroit
"I said, 'Well, wait a minute. There's a list here. The first thing says Jury Duty Scams.' And he says, 'Yes, ma'am. They try to replicate our process all the time. This is why we keep you on the line until you get to the office, so you know that this is a legitimate process. You don't have to worry about that,'" she said, imitating the scammer's calm, cool demeanor.
Shortly after that, she risked putting the scammer on mute and asked the store clerk if she could use their phone to call an officer at Detroit Police's 12th Precinct.
Captain Timothy Jones listened to Rachel and told her to come to the police department. She followed his instructions all while keeping the scammer on the phone. When she arrived at the precinct, a sergeant took the call and identified himself. That prompted the scammer to hang up immediately.
"When you saw the text they sent her, what stood out to you?" I asked Captain Jones.
"The text alone. You're not going to get any law enforcement agency that's going to send you a text about a warrant," he said.
"Why did you decide to share your story?" I asked Rachel.
"Because I realized that if I can get fooled, anybody can get fooled," she said.
Thankfully, Rachel did not lose any money. I want to thank her for sharing her experience to help raise awareness about this scam.
Remember, if you're targeted in an impostor scam, hang up the phone. If they've texted or emailed you any links, do not click on them.
Report the scam to local law enforcement and the Federal Trade Commission.
When you report a scam, it provides a record for possible financial recovery — if you lost any money — and it also tracks patterns and trends police use to raise awareness.
