Multnomah County jury duty

The sign to the Multnomah County courthouse's jury room.

(File photo)

The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office is warning the public about the re-emergence of a jury duty scam.

In the past few weeks, about half a dozen people have told the sheriff's office that someone has phoned them to tell them there’s a warrant out for their arrest for failing to appear for jury duty.

The caller, who identifies himself or herself as a sheriff’s deputy, goes on to say that the person must pay up to $900 to avoid arrest and should buy prepaid money cards, which can be used like credit or debit cards. The caller then tells the person to call back with the account information from the purchased cards.

In June, the Clackamas and Yamhill county sheriff's offices warned the public of similar scams. In 2013, an 82-year-old Beaverton woman shared her story of receiving a call from someone trying to scam her and her husband, a retired Multnomah County judge.

The people who have called to report the scam are the ones who weren’t fooled, said Multnomah County Sheriff's Lt. Brent Ritchie. He knows of no one so far who lost money.

But if there are people out there who were fooled, they might not know it: They could have paid the $900 and when they weren’t arrested, figured they dodged a bullet, Ritchie said.

“In scams like this, it’s kind of a numbers game,” Ritchie said. “You call enough people, eventually someone’s going to fall for it.”

The sheriff’s office doesn't phone people to tell them a warrant has been issued for missing jury duty. In fact, Multnomah County doesn’t issue warrants for failing to appear for jury duty.

The sheriff’s office urges people who have received one of these jury scam calls to report it to their local law enforcement agency.

-- Aimee Green