Fake Deputy, $700 'Jury Duty' Fine: Harris County Phone Scam Nearly Hooks a Lawyer
A caller whose ID read 'Harris County Sheriff's Office' told a Houston-area woman she had missed jury duty and owed $700 — and kept her on the line for 44 minutes. She is a lawyer, she did not pay, and her warning video has now been viewed more than 300,000 times.
Scammers posing as Harris County deputies are calling residents, telling them they missed a mandatory jury summons and owe immediate fines — and the calls are convincing enough to nearly fool a lawyer, FOX 26 Houston reported. Jaylin Jackson had recently been in a car crash, so when her caller ID displayed 'Harris County Sheriff's Office,' she picked up expecting an update, the station reported.
Instead, a fake deputy told her she owed two citations totaling $700 for missing jury duty and walked her through step-by-step payment instructions, keeping her on the line for 44 minutes before she realized it was a scam. "He was preying on the fact that I don't want to be in trouble," Jackson told FOX 26. She posted her experience on TikTok to warn others; the video passed 300,000 views, and several commenters said they had received identical calls, with some reporting they lost thousands of dollars.
The calls work through caller ID spoofing, which lets scammers display an official government number on a victim's screen. Carolina Petriciolet of the Better Business Bureau told FOX 26 that high-pressure demands over the phone should trigger immediate suspicion, and advised residents to ask where the caller is calling from, hang up, and do their own research before paying anything.
The Harris County Sheriff's Office emphasizes that real law enforcement officers never demand payment over the phone for missed jury duty. Anyone who gets a suspicious call should hang up and contact official court or law enforcement numbers directly; anyone who has already lost money should file a police report and report the fraud to the Federal Trade Commission.
