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A New Phone Scam: Jury Duty
Mar. 25th, 2026 10:26 amI got hit with a new type of phone scam last week. At least, I'm pretty sure it's a scam.
A man speaking solid English with a Texas accent identified himself as "Deputy [Some common name]" with the Santa Clara County Sheriffs Department. He explained that he was contacting me over my failure to appear for a jury duty summons. He conveyed that this was a serious matter. He stated my legal name, phone number, and full address to demonstrate the info he had.
Right away my Spidey sense was tingling, "Scam!" But mostly because I have a pending jury duty summons— with a date in December.
I chose to play along, as I allowed it's possible this wasn't a scam but was merely an actual sheriff's deputy making a routine call based on a mixup of names and dates in a spreadsheet somewhere.
"I didn't receive a summons," I explained.
The so-called deputy explained that that didn't matter and repeated that this was serious.
"Who's the sheriff?" I asked. I figured a simple quiz would separate the real McCoy from scammers.
The "deputy" repeated his name.
"No, who's the sheriff of Santa Clara County?"
The man on the phone balked and re-directed. I could've gone another round with him on this impromptu quiz, but at this point I was getting tired of wasting his time— and mine.
"Get lost, you fucking scammer," I said as a hung up.
Follow me to see if I'm arrested this week! 🤣
A man speaking solid English with a Texas accent identified himself as "Deputy [Some common name]" with the Santa Clara County Sheriffs Department. He explained that he was contacting me over my failure to appear for a jury duty summons. He conveyed that this was a serious matter. He stated my legal name, phone number, and full address to demonstrate the info he had.
Right away my Spidey sense was tingling, "Scam!" But mostly because I have a pending jury duty summons— with a date in December.
I chose to play along, as I allowed it's possible this wasn't a scam but was merely an actual sheriff's deputy making a routine call based on a mixup of names and dates in a spreadsheet somewhere.
"I didn't receive a summons," I explained.
The so-called deputy explained that that didn't matter and repeated that this was serious.
"Who's the sheriff?" I asked. I figured a simple quiz would separate the real McCoy from scammers.
The "deputy" repeated his name.
"No, who's the sheriff of Santa Clara County?"
The man on the phone balked and re-directed. I could've gone another round with him on this impromptu quiz, but at this point I was getting tired of wasting his time— and mine.
"Get lost, you fucking scammer," I said as a hung up.
Follow me to see if I'm arrested this week! 🤣
