A 67-year-old Marathon man is out more than $1,500 after falling victim to one of the increasingly common jury duty scams.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office dispatched a deputy to Marathon around 7:44 p.m. on Friday to meet with the victim. He reported that a person who identified themselves as “Derek Long” called him around 3 p.m. that day and stated that the victim had missed a federal jury duty appointment on June 19.
He instructed the victim to purchase Green Dot Money Pak gift cards if he wanted to avoid an arrest warrant being issued. The victim drove to a Walgreens and purchased two $500 cards, and then, per instruction from the scammer, read the numbers on the back of each card over the phone. The scammer then told him one of the cards didn’t work, and instructed the victim to purchase another $500 card.
After reading the third card, the scammer told the victim he had satisfied his jury duty requirements. In total, the victim paid $1,517.85 for the three cards, with a $5.95 fee for each card. The victim stated the number from which the call came was 305-900-5612. While the victim initially suspected it was a scam, the victim’s caller ID identified the number as originating from Marathon. Furthermore, the scammer mentioned a local address, which further solidified the victim’s concern that the call might be legitimate.
The case is still under investigation.
Information in the Crime Report is obtained from reports provided by area law enforcement agencies.
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