For those who have never heard of this scam

Just want to let you guys know about the Federal Jury Duty Arrest Warrant scam going on. I was called by a fake HPD officer saying I missed my federal summons and that the judge had issued a "bench" warrant that I needed to take care of immediately or risk getting thrown in jail for 72 hours to 6 weeks. Anyway it was very professional with several people taking place on the scam. The caller ID said it was HPD .. crazy how real they seemed . They even send you a text with the warrant filled out and the issuing judges name and tell you to come down to HPD. They advise paying the warrant at HPD kiosks located at HEB etc. they had all my information as well, almost as if they got my information from a past jury summons.

Anyway after listening to them for a while I eventually hung up and called HPD directly. They informed me it was a scam and had been going on for quite a while. The actual HPD officer also said when you get to the kiosk it's not an HPD (Houston PD) but a kiosk for bitcoin payment which HPD do not take

Just passing this on for those that haven't heard about it

https://www.bbb.org/article/scams/21259-scam-alert-you-missed-jury-duty-long-running-scam-preys-on-fears

Yes. HPD is a scam.

I assume that these "HPD Kiosks" were actually for the sole purpose of giving your money away to scammers using bitcoin.

If you miss jury duty then they will just reschedule you... I thought that was common knowledge.

HPD?

The one in the OP is far more sophisticated, but a similar scam happened to me about five years ago.

It was plausible to me. A guy in our neighborhood was stealing mail from our boxes (later went to federal prison) so it was possible I had missed a jury summons.

Then when the guy mispronounced Bexar as BEKSAR I figured it was a scam.

I asked to speak to a superior and while that transfer was going on I called SAPD and was told it was a scam.

The scammer told me that the cops were on the way to my house as I was hanging up.

I hate these evil people. No end would be too bad for them.

eric76 said:

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I assume that these "HPD Kiosks" were actually for the sole purpose of giving your money away to scammers using bitcoin.

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I figure they would want to be paid with gift cards bought at Walmart.

eric76 said:

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I assume that these "HPD Kiosks" were actually for the sole purpose of giving your money away to scammers using bitcoin.

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Yes, HPD does not have kiosk, they try to send you to a bitcoin kiosk… I spoke with an HPD office about this

doubledog said:

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If you miss jury duty then they will just reschedule you... I thought that was common knowledge.

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I didn't know that, I usually appear when I have jury duty

I actually did miss jury duty about a year ago. I hadn't checked my mail in two or three weeks and when I got it, I had to sign for a certified letter regarding jury notice for a trial that was scheduled to start the previous Wednesday.

I promptly sent a text message to the judge and he told me not to worry about it.

fullback44 said:

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For those who have never heard of this scam

Just want to let you guys know about the Federal Jury Duty Arrest Warrant scam going on. I was called by a fake HPD officer saying I missed my federal summons and that they issued a warrant that I needed to take care of immediately or risk getting thrown in jail for 72 hours to 6 weeks. Anyway it was very professional with several people taking place on the scam. The caller ID said it was HPD .. crazy how real they seemed . They even send you a text with the warrant filled out and the issuing judges name and tell you to come down to HPD. They advise paying the warrant at HPD kiosks located at HEB etc. they had all my information as well, almost as if they got my information from a past jury summons.

Anyway after listening to them for a while I eventually hung up and called HPD directly. They informed me it was a scam and had been going on for quite a while.

Just passing this on for those that haven't heard about it

https://www.bbb.org/article/scams/21259-scam-alert-you-missed-jury-duty-long-running-scam-preys-on-fears

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Was this based on a PPP loan during Covid? If so, this is a newer scam going around as PPP loan info is public info. I know someone who was locked into their story as they had official looking documents they sent from "local" phone numbers. I had to reason them out of it by calling the sheriffs office and asking if they had a warrant out on my friend.

Aggie_95 said:

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fullback44 said:

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For those who have never heard of this scam

Just want to let you guys know about the Federal Jury Duty Arrest Warrant scam going on. I was called by a fake HPD officer saying I missed my federal summons and that they issued a warrant that I needed to take care of immediately or risk getting thrown in jail for 72 hours to 6 weeks. Anyway it was very professional with several people taking place on the scam. The caller ID said it was HPD .. crazy how real they seemed . They even send you a text with the warrant filled out and the issuing judges name and tell you to come down to HPD. They advise paying the warrant at HPD kiosks located at HEB etc. they had all my information as well, almost as if they got my information from a past jury summons.

Anyway after listening to them for a while I eventually hung up and called HPD directly. They informed me it was a scam and had been going on for quite a while.

Just passing this on for those that haven't heard about it

https://www.bbb.org/article/scams/21259-scam-alert-you-missed-jury-duty-long-running-scam-preys-on-fears

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Was this based on a PPP loan during Covid? If so, this is a newer scam going around as PPP loan info is public info. I know someone who was locked into their story as they had official looking documents they sent from "local" phone numbers. I had to reason them out of it by calling the sheriffs office and asking if they had a warrant out on my friend.

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No they tried that scam on me a few years ago but I knew about it so just hung up.. this is a missed federal jury duty scam

They did this to my boss a few years ago, except they pretended to be Montgomery County Sherriff's office. Had him fooled and convinced he needed to pay the two fines totaling about $6k. The alternative was they would come to his office and arrest him in front of his colleagues, which he wanted to avoid. He retained enough skepticism to insist that he come pay his fine at the Sherriff's office, and when they told him instead to go to some weird location and wait for a call and further instructions, he smelled the rat and told them to pound sand.

But he said they were extremely convincing, and he could understand how someone else might fall for it and pay the "fines" by credit card over the phone.

Yes very similar and they get you going for a while with the info they know about you, cell phone, my physical address and my PO Box address .. they send you copies of the 2 warrants that were on the letter head of the Southern District that matches their jury summons I have received before .. the Payment part about going to a HEB kiosk is what throws them off .. at that point I hung up and called HPD directly .. funny part was the officer starting chatting with me and said they have called HPD officers to try and use this scam on them .. they won't meet you because they must use some way to get the money via bitcoin

fullback44 said:

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Yes very similar and they get you going for a while with the info they know about you, cell phone, my physical address and my PO Box address .. they send you copies of the 2 warrants that were on the letter head of the Southern District that matches their jury summons I have received before .. the Payment part about going to a HEB kiosk is what throws them off .. at that point I hung up and called HPD directly .. funny part was the officer starting chatting with me and said they have called HPD officers to try and use this scam on them .. they won't meet you because they must use some way to get the money via bitcoin

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Exactly. They knew his son's name and said his son signed for the registered letter they had sent previously to his home informing him of his missed jury duty and fines. They had an answer for any conceivable question he would have asked.

They could probably get that information from your voting records which are public information.

One thing that might work is to ask them to have Bob call you. Bob who? My nephew, the sheriff. (Change name as appropriate.)

doubledog said:

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If you miss jury duty then they will just reschedule you... I thought that was common knowledge.

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Not necessarily. The judge can issue a bench warrant for your arrest.

YellowPot_97 said:

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doubledog said:

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If you miss jury duty then they will just reschedule you... I thought that was common knowledge.

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Not necessarily. The judge can issue a bench warrant for your arrest.

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Wouldn't they have to prove you received the summons? Jury summons aren't sent certified or receipt requested.

As for the scam, the BIG Red Flag is the payment kiosk at HEB (where you can buy Bitcoin). That's like sending the IRS Target or Amazon gift cards.

YellowPot_97 said:

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doubledog said:

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If you miss jury duty then they will just reschedule you... I thought that was common knowledge.

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Not necessarily. The judge can issue a bench warrant for your arrest.

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Then they wouldn't be calling you. They'd just show up at your front door and arrest your ass.

I got a weird scam I hadn't heard of that was a combination of actual data breach and scam.

The scammers somehow used my email to make a Western Union wire transfer. I had seen this before from a fake western union account but this was had an actual Western Union email account and confirmation numbers. It did not use my name or credit card but my email.

I called Western Union directly and they confirmed it was an actual wire transfer. I let them know it was probably a scam because they used my email and I did not authorize it and it was to the Philippines. Western Union said they would flag/close the account with my email.

Here comes the scam part. A few hours later I got a Western Union email from a fake western union email address addressed to the person whose name the scammers used in the wire transfer asking me to claim my free $20 gift card for the most recent wire transfer. I deleted it and haven't seen anything related to it since.

This was the first time I had seen a scammer use a real company and identity theft then follow up with a fake email for scamming money and more identity theft I would guess.

Kenneth_2003 said:

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YellowPot_97 said:

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doubledog said:

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If you miss jury duty then they will just reschedule you... I thought that was common knowledge.

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Not necessarily. The judge can issue a bench warrant for your arrest.

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Wouldn't they have to prove you received the summons? Jury summons aren't sent certified or receipt requested.

As for the scam, the BIG Red Flag is the payment kiosk at HEB (where you can buy Bitcoin). That's like tsending the IRS Target or Amazon gift cards.

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The scammers said the judge issued a bench warrant against me for not showing up and that I would have to come into HPD to pay the warrant and sign my name 5 times to show them that I did not sign the jury summons, these guys are very professional and know how the procedures work, a second person got on the phone and sent me a copy of the bench warrant and another warrant. I told them I would come down and take care of it. they then say you need to pay the warrant at a local HPD kiosk that is in stores like HEB, the guy says its similar to paying your electricity bill at a grocery store. As he's talking (20 min at least by now) I get on my computer and look up that kiosk hes talking about and see its a bitcoin kiosk.. I tell him I want to call HPD direct to ask them about the warrant and he says I will get arrested if I just come down there without going and paying the warrant at HEB kiosk . Anyway, he then does a confirmation 2nd phone line call that shows "Houston Police Department" as the caller ID... I ask him a few more questions and hang up and call HPD directly and find out its a scam.

The scammers also tell you that if you enter the HPD you will be arrested because you didn't go pay the bench warrant fees and change the warrant to a "pending" warrant.. they say once thats done you can come in and check in and sign your name 5 times and if the signatures don't match the signature on the summons, you will be given your warrant money back... they also tell you that the original signature was probably "auto signed" by the post office when you didn't get the summons. they told me its because of covid rule changes the post office can auto sign your summons and send it back to them and then you are responsible for showing up to court... its a whole lot of legal talk that the normal person wouldn't know and as it turns out is probably false.

Anyway, just passing this on, Ive never been scammed but that was as close or realistic as it gets.

I looked up the judge they used on the FAKE bench warrant, it was some judge in Tennessee, not even a local judge .. I guess I should of looked that up while the scamer was talking..

I need a beer after today!

MemphisAg1 said:

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fullback44 said:

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Yes very similar and they get you going for a while with the info they know about you, cell phone, my physical address and my PO Box address .. they send you copies of the 2 warrants that were on the letter head of the Southern District that matches their jury summons I have received before .. the Payment part about going to a HEB kiosk is what throws them off .. at that point I hung up and called HPD directly .. funny part was the officer starting chatting with me and said they have called HPD officers to try and use this scam on them .. they won't meet you because they must use some way to get the money via bitcoin

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Exactly. They knew his son's name and said his son signed for the registered letter they had sent previously to his home informing him of his missed jury duty and fines. They had an answer for any conceivable question he would have asked.

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yeah these people have to be stealing information from the post office, they knew I had signed another certified mail notice..

torrid said:

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YellowPot_97 said:

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doubledog said:

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If you miss jury duty then they will just reschedule you... I thought that was common knowledge.

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Not necessarily. The judge can issue a bench warrant for your arrest.

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Then they wouldn't be calling you. They'd just show up at your front door and arrest your ass.

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That's not always true.

I used to know an older officer who wasn't into playing games. By younger officers liked to show police power by going in for an arrest, but give him a stack of warrants and he will go through them one at a time. For certain people known to be crooked, he goes ahead and schedules a visit and arrest.

For most people though, he would call them up and say "Mr. $(name on warrant)? This is officer $(officer's name) with the $(officer's department) Department and I have a warrant for your arrest for $(this reason). We don't want to disturb you by making an unnecessary arrest. Can you come down to $(court house) and take care of the warrant, then it will work better for all of us."

He could easily take care of five or six times as many warrants in an average day as any of his younger colleagues.

eric76 said:

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torrid said:

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YellowPot_97 said:

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doubledog said:

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If you miss jury duty then they will just reschedule you... I thought that was common knowledge.

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Not necessarily. The judge can issue a bench warrant for your arrest.

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Then they wouldn't be calling you. They'd just show up at your front door and arrest your ass.

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That's not always true.

I used to know an older officer who wasn't into playing games. By younger officers liked to show police power by going in for an arrest, but give him a stack of warrants and he will go through them one at a time. For certain people known to be crooked, he goes ahead and schedules a visit and arrest.

For most people though, he would call them up and say "Mr. $(name on warrant)? This is officer $(officer's name) with the $(officer's department) Department and I have a warrant for your arrest for $(this reason). We don't want to disturb you by making an unnecessary arrest. Can you come down to $(court house) and take care of the warrant, then it will work better for all of us."

He could easily take care of five or six times as many warrants in an average day as any of his younger colleagues.

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this is why its so believable, they have all your information and ask you to come down and take care of it, however, once you agree to come down and take care of it, the scammers ask you to go pay the warrant or you will get arrested if you come into the police department without paying it first.. thats when you start wondering what going on

1). Local officers do not do work for federal judges. US marshal service does

2) if you look closely at the Summons/warrant they send you, you can tell it is a PDF that has been edited. Judge is probably not local. And it will probably say a BTC kiosk - bitcoin.

3) this has been going on for about 10 years. Could be "police" or "sheriff" or "constable"

4) you can always call a local bail bondsman to find out if there is in fact a warrant outstanding for you.


They sound professional but can't deviate off script. Also they are spoofing local LEO numbers so it will be hard to trace them back.

There are lots of variations of this scam, IRS, jury summons miss are two most common.

Don't let them scare you or take you.

Same happened to me. They will never call you by phone. Any call by phone is 100% a scam

Easy way to avoid scams, don't trust any cold caller or voicemail. If someone claims to be from your bank, Amazon, the police, IRS, etc... and you actually think it might be a real issue, hang up and independently look up the actual number. Do not use a number that the caller gave you, don't trust a number from a random popup on a web page, don't trust the caller ID. Call them up using the number your found independently through a legitimate source.

A real organization would have no problem with you calling them back, only a scammer would get mad about that.

I don't understand how anyone falls for this, but never pay a legitimate fine or fee with bitcoin or gift cards. No legitimate organization would require that as payment for anything.

Also never install any screen sharing software that some random caller wants you to use, and definitely don't sign into your bank account while they have access to your computer.

"I will refund your $200. (Hits F12, modifies the account balance showing an increase of $20,000) Oh my goodness, I accidentally refunded your $20,000 instead of $200, do you see that? I will lose my job for sure. Now my wife will leave me and my children will starve, what will happen to me? Oh, you will transfer it back to me, you have saved my life, bless you. I will of course need that in gift cards so my bosses don't realize my terrible mistake. I need you to go to Home Depot and purchase $20,000 in gift cards. If they ask you why, please don't tell them about me or I will lose my job. Tell them you are buying gift cards for your family for Christmas presents. I will stay on the phone with you. I will just need the serial numbers from the cards."

I always thought that cops will never call you on the phone for a warrant.

That would be the first clue

Had them call me a few months ago and as others have said they're very convincing. After about ten minutes it became way to suspicious though and I search on the internet and saw it was a scam. I then strung them along for 20 minutes acting all confused and eventually told them to **** off. He got really mad.

why would HPD be involved in a federal jury summons is my first question

fullback44 said:

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eric76 said:

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torrid said:

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YellowPot_97 said:

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doubledog said:

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If you miss jury duty then they will just reschedule you... I thought that was common knowledge.

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Not necessarily. The judge can issue a bench warrant for your arrest.

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Then they wouldn't be calling you. They'd just show up at your front door and arrest your ass.

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That's not always true.

I used to know an older officer who wasn't into playing games. By younger officers liked to show police power by going in for an arrest, but give him a stack of warrants and he will go through them one at a time. For certain people known to be crooked, he goes ahead and schedules a visit and arrest.

For most people though, he would call them up and say "Mr. $(name on warrant)? This is officer $(officer's name) with the $(officer's department) Department and I have a warrant for your arrest for $(this reason). We don't want to disturb you by making an unnecessary arrest. Can you come down to $(court house) and take care of the warrant, then it will work better for all of us."

He could easily take care of five or six times as many warrants in an average day as any of his younger colleagues.

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this is why its so believable, they have all your information and ask you to come down and take care of it, however, once you agree to come down and take care of it, the scammers ask you to go pay the warrant or you will get arrested if you come into the police department without paying it first.. thats when you start wondering what going on

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At the very least, you should expect to receive a receipt from the court at the time you make the payment. If there is no receipt, there is something drastically wrong.

In before the Houston jokes…