DEER PARK, Ohio — A local veterinarian became the victim of an elaborate jury duty scam that cost her $2,000 before she realized it was fake.
Jade Scott never expected to become a scam victim, and now she's sharing her story to protect others from falling into the same trap.
The scam started with a single phone call to her veterinary office.
"They called my place of work and really rocked me," Jade Scott said. "That threw me for a loop. I was not expecting that."
Hear Jade tell her story below:
The caller claimed to be from the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office — complete with a badge number and official-sounding title.
"He told me that the judge posted warrants for not my arrest necessarily, but contempt of court for missing jury duty," Scott said.
The scammer's first move was to isolate his target.
"He told me to switch to my mobile device ... He told me not to talk to my bosses ... to tell them there was an emergency down at the sheriff's department," Scott said.
The caller instructed Scott to go to the nearest Walmart.
"He sent me these barcodes. He told me to go into Walmart, and then the Walmart associate at money services scanned those barcodes and had me insert my debit card into the system, and then, basically, that's how the money was obtained from my account," Scott said.
Scott even tried to verify the caller's identity.
"I put the number into Google search, and it came up as the Hamilton County Sheriff's Department," Scott said.
Some $2,000 later, something finally clicked.
"He had to keep sending me multiple barcodes to get to the total fine of $4,000," Scott said. “So, I realized halfway in between.”
"When you're in the moment with anxiety, and it sounds like a sheriff ... I wasn't thinking clearly," Scott said.
Red flags to watch for:
Experts say these things should put you on high alert:
- Demands for payment through retail stores or gift cards
- Pressure to stay on the phone and not tell others
- Requests to move conversations to personal devices
- Calls about missing jury duty with immediate consequences
"If I'm being honest, it was very well thought out, very well implemented," Scott said. "I don't want my community to fall for the same scam."
Legitimate court summons arrive by mail, so if you get a phone call like this, know it's likely a scam.
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