Manatee County Residents: Beware of Jury Scams

The Office of Angelina "Angel" Colonneso, Manatee County Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller, warns Manatee County residents of a recent jury duty scam reported in Manatee County.

According to the report, the scammer claimed a resident missed jury duty and now must pay a fine using prepaid gift cards. Then directed the resident to send the gift cards to the Sarasota County Clerk & Comptroller’s office.

This scam is not new. Similar scams in the past involved scammers calling jurors pretending to be law enforcement, threatening to arrest or embarrass them if payment was not made.

The Clerk & Comptroller's office will never initiate contact with you unprompted. You would have contacted the Clerk's office first. 

You can guard yourself against jury duty scams using the following tips provided by the office of Attorney General Ashley Moody:

• Know that jury duty summons will come by mail, not by phone or email;
• If no jury duty summons is received, then ignore a phone call from anyone claiming to be calling about jury duty;
• Contact your local Clerk's office to see if there is a valid jury duty issue;
• Never give personal or financial information over the phone to a stranger, especially if the caller acts aggressively;
• Recognize that anyone asking for payments to be made through a gift card is a scammer, and
• Be wary of Caller ID, as this can be spoofed, making a phone call look like it is coming from a real source.

You should contact the Clerk & Comptroller's office with any concerns regarding your jury duty summons or jury duty service at (941) 748-7407. 

The Clerk & Comptroller's office is here to help, protect, and serve.