MCARTHUR, Ohio — Anyone threatened with arrest over supposedly missed jury duty should hang up and call the courthouse back on a number they find themselves, the Vinton County Sheriff’s Office advised Monday amid a fresh wave of scam calls in the county.
Deputies said they have received complaints in recent days from residents told a warrant had been issued for their arrest because they skipped jury service. To dodge jail, the callers insist on immediate payment — typically through prepaid gift cards or cryptocurrency — according to the sheriff’s office. The same callers also lean on other scare tactics, including claims of unpaid taxes or parking tickets, always with the same ultimatum: pay now or face jail.
The office urged residents to pass the warning to parents, grandparents and other elderly or vulnerable neighbors, saying those groups are the callers’ favorite targets.
No legitimate court or county office will demand payment in gift cards or cryptocurrency over the phone, the office said. People who get such calls should not pay, and should instead look up the agency’s real number on their own and call it directly. For any genuine debt, paying in person remains the safest option, according to the sheriff’s office.
The alert comes on the heels of a similar warning in August, when callers spoofed the sheriff’s office’s own phone number and posed as deputies to demand bond payments. The tactics shift, the office said, but the playbook is the same: someone posing as a government authority demanding fast money under threat of arrest.
The sheriff’s office did not say how many residents have reported the latest calls or whether anyone has lost money.
