Jury Duty Scams in California: Spotting, Verifying, and Reporting

If you got a phone call, text, or email saying you missed jury duty in California and must pay a fine or face arrest, it’s a scam. Real California courts don’t call people out of the blue demanding money, and they never ask for payment by gift card, cryptocurrency, or wire transfer.¹ Hang up, don’t click the link, and verify anything through your county Superior Court directly.

How to Spot the Scam While It’s Happening

The script is almost always the same. A caller claims to be a court clerk, sheriff’s deputy, or U.S. Marshal. They say a judge issued a warrant for your arrest because you failed to appear for jury service. They rattle off a badge number or case number to sound official. Then they tell you the only way to avoid being picked up is to pay a fine immediately, usually by gift card, wire transfer, or cryptocurrency.

The urgency is the whole trick. Scammers know that if you hang up and check with the actual court, the story collapses. So they keep you on the line, keep the pressure high, and push you toward a payment method you can’t reverse.

A few specific signs give it away every time:

Any demand for payment by gift card, cryptocurrency, or wire transfer. Courts don’t accept any of these. The FTC has warned about scammers directing victims to fake court websites and even a so-called “government kiosk” for cryptocurrency payments. No such kiosk exists.²
A request for your Social Security number, birthdate, bank account, or credit card over the phone or by email. The Judicial Branch of California says court officials will never ask for this information this way.¹
A threat of immediate arrest unless you pay right now.
A dollar figure in the thousands. The scammers’ numbers are often $5,000 or $10,000. California’s actual fines are nowhere near that, as explained below.²
A link in a text or email asking you to pay or “look up what you owe.” Any unsolicited text or email demanding payment for missed jury duty is fraudulent.

And don’t trust what shows up on your caller ID. Scammers routinely spoof the display so the call looks like it’s coming from your local courthouse or sheriff’s office. The technology is cheap, requires no skill, and lets anyone type in whatever name and number they want. Some use “neighbor spoofing,” where the incoming number matches your local area code and prefix. Seeing “Superior Court” on your screen proves nothing about who’s really on the other end.

What Really Happens If You Miss Jury Duty in California

Understanding the real process makes the scam obvious. Under California’s Code of Civil Procedure, missing a summons doesn’t trigger a phone call, a warrant, or a demand for thousands of dollars. Everything happens on paper, through the mail, with multiple chances to respond before any penalty.

If you don’t respond to your first summons, the court may send a second summons by mail, and only after a waiting period. If you still don’t respond, you may get a formal failure-to-appear notice warning that continued non-response could lead to monetary sanctions. Only after that does the court issue an order to show cause, which is a hearing where you can explain yourself in person.³

The fines are also capped by statute. For a first-time failure to appear, the maximum is $250. A second violation caps at $750. A third or later violation caps at $1,500.³ A California court is not calling to collect $5,000 for a missed summons. Ever.

How to Verify a Suspicious Contact

If you’re not sure whether something is a scam, treat it as one until you’ve verified independently. The one rule that matters: never use a phone number, link, or website that the caller or message gave you. Those are the scammer’s own channels.

Instead, do this:

Check your mail. A real California jury summons arrives as physical mail from your county’s Superior Court, with the court’s seal, official letterhead, and a unique Juror ID number. If you actually missed a summons, the court’s next move is more mail, not a phone call.
Go to the court’s website on your own. Type your county Superior Court’s address directly into your browser. Most counties run an eJuror portal where you can check your service status with your Juror ID.
Call the Jury Services Division yourself. Look up the main number for your county’s Superior Court through a search engine or the court’s official site, call it, and ask about your status.

If no record exists, you have your answer.

If You Already Paid or Gave Out Information

Act quickly. What you do next depends on what the scammer got from you.

You Paid With Gift Cards

Call the company that issued the card right away. Tell them the card was used in a scam and ask whether any remaining balance can be frozen or recovered. Once the number and PIN are shared, the money is usually gone, but acting fast is your only shot.⁴ Keep the cards and any receipts as evidence.

You Gave Up Your Social Security Number

This is the worst-case outcome because it opens the door to long-term identity theft. Move on several fronts:

Place a credit freeze with all three credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion). A freeze prevents anyone from opening new credit in your name. It’s free and stays in place until you lift it.⁵
Or set up a fraud alert. Contact any one of the three bureaus to request an initial fraud alert, which lasts one year and forces lenders to verify your identity before issuing new credit. That bureau notifies the other two. If you’ve already been a victim of identity theft and filed a report, you can request an extended alert that lasts seven years.⁵
If your SSN has already been used, go to IdentityTheft.gov to create an FTC Identity Theft Report and get a personalized recovery plan.⁶
Report the fraud to the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General at oig.ssa.gov/report or by calling 1-800-269-0271. You can also add protective blocks to your Social Security account, including an eServices block that stops anyone from viewing or changing your information through SSA’s website.⁶

You Shared Bank or Credit Card Information

Call your bank or card issuer right away. Tell them you disclosed your account information in a fraud. Ask them to freeze or close the account, reverse any unauthorized charges, and issue new numbers. Watch your statements closely for the next several months.

Where to Report a California Jury Duty Scam

Reporting matters even if you didn’t lose a dime. It helps law enforcement map these operations and protects the next person on the list. File with as many of the following as apply:

Your county Superior Court. Call the fraud or jury services division of the specific court the scammer claimed to represent. The court can issue public warnings and coordinate with investigators.
Local law enforcement. Call your police or sheriff’s non-emergency line, especially if you were threatened with arrest.
The Federal Trade Commission at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. The FTC feeds reports into a database that law enforcement agencies across the country use to build cases.⁷
The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov if the scam reached you by email, text, or a fake website.

If the caller claimed to be a federal official or U.S. Marshal, also notify the Clerk of Court for the U.S. District Court in your area. The same ground rules apply to federal courts: contact with prospective jurors happens mainly by U.S. mail, and no federal court will ask for sensitive personal or financial information by phone or email.⁸

1
Judicial Branch of California. Jury Scam Alert
2
Federal Trade Commission. Scammers Are Using Fake Websites in a Twist on Jury Duty Scams
3
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure CCP 209
4
Federal Trade Commission. Report Gift Cards Used in a Scam
5
Federal Trade Commission. Credit Freezes and Fraud Alerts
6
Social Security Administration. Fraud Prevention and Reporting
7
Federal Trade Commission. ReportFraud.ftc.gov
8
United States Courts. Juror Scams