Orange County Sheriff warns residents about jury-duty scam calls
Orange County residents were warned about callers posing as sheriff's deputies and demanding cash for a fake missed-jury warrant. Officials said real courts never collect payment by phone.
A jury-duty scam has been circulating across Orange County, with callers pretending to be from the sheriff’s office and claiming the listener has an outstanding warrant for failing to appear. The pitch is designed to trigger panic and push people into paying immediately to avoid arrest.
The warning came as New York courts said scams tied to jury duty were rising statewide. Court officials said fraudsters may even spoof authentic court phone numbers on caller ID and use the names and titles of judges, clerks, commissioners of jurors and other court staff to sound legitimate. But that is not how jury problems are handled. The state court system said multiple questionnaires and summonses would normally be sent before any enforcement step, and the courts never ask for financial or family information by phone.
Orange County residents were told to treat any demand for payment over the phone as a red flag. The sheriff’s office said not to send money, gift cards, wire transfers or cryptocurrency, and not to provide Social Security numbers, bank details or credit-card numbers. Officials also said the courts would never ask for payment for jury-related fines through Apple Pay, PayPal, Venmo or Zelle. Anyone who gets such a call should hang up immediately and report it to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office or a local police department.
The county’s warning comes against the backdrop of a large local jurisdiction that stretches across 839 square miles, includes three cities, 20 towns and 19 villages, and serves more than 379,000 residents. That size gives scammers plenty of room to cast a wide net, whether they are targeting Goshen, Newburgh, Middletown or any other corner of the county. Residents who want to verify a jury notice can check the official state jury site or call 1-800-Court-NY, while the Orange County Sheriff’s Office can be reached at 845-862-6329 for questions or information.
This was not the first alert. On February 12, Orange County Commissioner of Jurors Molly O’Donnell and Sheriff Paul Arteta warned that scammers were contacting residents by phone, email and text and threatening arrest, fines or other penalties for missing jury duty. A similar warning had also been reported earlier in February, showing the scheme had already been active for months. The message from county and state officials was consistent: legitimate jury notices come through official channels, not through a caller demanding instant payment.
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