Man helps mother-in-law targeted by jury duty scam

A jury duty scam that has cost people thousands of dollars keeps snaring victims, including many who reached out to 5 On Your Side after a story on the scam aired Thursday.

The scam starts with a call threatening arrest because a person supposedly missed a court summons.

Chris Holloman said his mother-in-law got the call and was absolutely convinced she needed to get to the Wake County courthouse and pay a $2,000 fine or be arrested for missing jury duty after spending 45 minutes on the phone.

“I said, ‘Oh, my lord, this is crazy. How could that happen to somebody and then turn around and happen to you?’ It was so crazy. It was just unbelievable,” he said.

Holloman laughs about it now, but when he realized his panicked mother-in-law was caught in a scam, it was serious.

“The details of their story was almost exactly word for word,” Holloman said.

Scammers convinced Holloman’s mother-in-law she had to pay $2,000 in fines or be arrested. Holloman’s mother-in-law didn’t believe him even after he told her it was a scam.

“[She said] no, no, no, you’re talking about the IRS. This is the sheriff’s department,” Holloman said of his mother-in-law’s reaction.

The woman took notes about what the scammer told her, complete with the name of an actual judge in Wake County, case numbers and an address next to the Justice Center. Finally, the woman’s grandson took her phone.

“She kept asking me after it was over and we finally hung up and realized what had happened, she kept saying, ‘They’re not going to come get me are they?’ I was like, ‘No,’” he said.

Legitimate authorities will never call and threaten arrest. If a person calls asking you to pay money you owe with prepaid gift cards, it is a scam.