Judiciary Warns Against Jury Scam

TRENTON — Following recent incidents involving potential identity thieves posing as jury managers, the New Jersey Judiciary is once again warning New Jersey residents that the court system does not contact people by phone, by e-mail or by sending representatives to their homes. The Judiciary has sent notices in the past following similar reports of those who impersonated court personnel to solicit personal information from residents.
“The New Jersey Judiciary does not and has never asked for personal identifiers over the phone, by e-mail or in person,” said Judge Glenn A. Grant, acting administrative director of the courts. “Furthermore, the Judiciary does not make follow-up phone calls nor send e-mails to jurors. Those contacts are scams. All notifications to potential jurors are conducted through the U.S. Postal Service.”
Court officials are concerned that residents may be tricked into providing personal identification information such as Social Security numbers, birthdates and driver’s license numbers, to persons not associated with the Judiciary who will use the information for unlawful purposes.
An official jury summons looks like the form attached below and includes a self-addressed return address to the Superior Court for the county in which it was sent. The summons does ask for a birth date and driver’s license number, but social security numbers are optional.
Anyone who has concerns about being approached for jury duty is asked to contact the county jury manager at once.