Jury Duty Scam Resurfaces in Marshall

MARSHALL — An old scam resurfaces in Marshall — with a new twist. This past Friday, the U.S. Courthouse in Marshall was notified that an unknown caller told a resident he was employed with the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office. The caller told the victim that she had failed to appear for jury selection during the month of June and Judge Rodney Gilstrap had issued a warrant for her arrest. A spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service says this is the first time he has heard of a scammer using the name of Gilstrap, the presiding U.S. District Court Judge in Marshall. The spokesman says scammers tell victims they can avoid arrest by purchasing a prepaid debit card and reading the number over the phone to satisfy the fine.

If you’ve been victimized, officials have several suggestions, including these:

– Report calls to your local FBI office
– Don’t divulge personal or financial information to unknown callers
– Authenticate the call by calling the clerk of the court’s office of the U.S. District Court in your area and verify the court order given by the caller

You can go to https://www.usmarshals.gov/news/chron/2018/scam-alerts.htm for more information.