Scammers targeting those called for jury duty

Scammers already are causing problems for residents and Comanche County District Court.

Comanche County Court Clerk Robert Morales said his office has received its first call from a resident who said she was contacted by someone claiming she had ignored her jury summons and would be facing penalties. The District Court Clerk’s office has just started mailing summons to residents who will be called to jury duty for the term that begins in September.

Typically, such scam calls specify a warrant has been issued for the resident’s arrest because they have ignored a jury summons, but he/she can avoid legal problems by paying restitution.

Such calls are always bogus, Morales said, explaining neither his office nor the Comanche County Sheriff’s Office calls residents to warn them they have ignored jury summons. But the problem has become common, one that surfaces with almost every new court docket, he said. Residents continue to be taken in because the scammers have technology that indicates the calls are coming from either the court clerk or sheriff’s offices, when it is not true.

“We do not call residents and the sheriff’s office does not call residents,” Morales said.

Morales said residents who receive such calls should report them to the Comanche County Sheriff’s Office, 353-4280, or Lawton Police Department, 581-3270.