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The Sedgwick County District Court has published a warning on its website, telling people not to share their social security number or credit card information with callers who are claiming to represent the courts.
"We never call people up and ask them for personal information," Sedgwick County District Court Chief Judge James Fleetwood said. "We thought it was an appropriate warning."
Fleetwood said some jurors have reported prank calls in which they receive a message saying, "You’ve failed to appear in a timely fashion for jury service. You may be subject to a $500 fine and a prison sentence."
"They don’t ask for any personal information," Fleetwood said, "but they give a phone number to call. One person called that phone number, and the message berates them for being gullible and encourages them to forward the message on to their gullible friends."
Similar calls have been reported by Nebraska court officials. Fleetwood said information about the prank has been turned over to the district attorney’s office.
Some people also have reported getting phone calls from possible scammers in the past two weeks pretending to represent U.S. District Court in Wichita, a representative of the court said.
The people who received the calls reported that the person making the call told them that their name was on a list of people who failed to appear for jury duty.
These types of calls appear occasionally, the federal court representative said. Courts advise people not to share any of their personal information over the phone.
