Buckle up. This is a story.

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PART 1 – Convince Me with Authority, Documentation, and Information

I received the following phone call today:

Hello this is Lt. Tim Campbell with the Bucks County Sheriff’s Office, is this Mr. Sam Stortz?

Not a great start. I confirmed my name.

Mr. Stortz I’m calling today because you were summoned for Jury Duty in September of this year and you missed that summons. We reached out by mail and have not been able to contact you.

Immediately I knew that I never updated my address with the state since moving earlier this year. I asked what address it was sent to and he read out my old address. I told him I’ve since moved to which he said “You’re supposed to update your address through PennDOT within 30 days of moving.“.

He then texted me the following picture.

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Mr. Stortz we are on a recorded line, please state your name, date of birth, and confirm that you have read and understand the document fully.

I skimmed it and said I understand.

Mr. Stortz per that document there is a warrant out for your arrest. This case can be settled criminally or civilly. If you choose criminally, you can turn yourself into the Sheriff’s office at 100 N Main St in Doylestown, PA where you will be detained for up to 24-48 hours until a judge can see you. If you choose civilly, you will have to pay the assessed bond amount of $3,950 and come to the Sheriff’s office to get this all cleared up, then the bond will be returned.

The guy sounded exactly as you’d expect a police officer to sound. He didn’t sound like a scammer, he sounded like he was doing his job. The Maintain Contact Order, though obviously fishy, meant I had to stay on the phone with him the whole time. Though I was suspicious, the situation was plausible, and if all I had to do was go to the Sheriff’s office, I could do that.

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PART 2 – Get to Your Vehicle and Withdraw Cash for the Bond

I was permitted to pay the bond with cash, I assumed in person at the Sheriff’s office. The officer told me to go to my vehicle. He insisted that I be able to drive without holding my phone. He made me confirm my odometer reading as well as the address of the financial location that I was driving to as well as my ETA. He said they were tracking my location via my phone and told me to announce each turn I was taking and the road I was turning on. This is a bit ridiculous.

I drove to PNC, announcing each turn, went to the teller with him on the phone, withdrew $3,950, and walked back to my car. Even writing that out feels absurd.

I was becoming more skeptical every minute but I hadn’t given him any information or money yet, so I continued along with it, until…

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Part 3 – Pay the ATM. Wait… Excuse Me?!

I was expecting that I would show up to the Sheriff’s department, pay the bond, do whatever, and be on my way. Not the case! Instead of paying the bond in person, he submitted “form 286-B” and sent me the below instructions.

Now we’ve entered “this HAS to be a scam” mode. You want me to drive to a Shell gas station and deposit $3,950 to an ATM? I’m sorry officer, that just… isn’t happening. He very calmly replied something like:

“Not a problem sir, I totally understand, we don’t want to make you do anything you’re not comfortable with. You can come directly to the Sheriff’s office to settle it criminally. Once here, you’ll have 10 minutes or so to make a few calls, then we’ll take your belongings and you’ll be detained until a judge can see you, hopefully tomorrow, but possibly Friday. You’ll also want to arrange for someone to pick up your car.”

Wait, what? Can’t I pay the bond when I get there?

“If you do not have a bond receipt upon arrival, then your arrest warrant will still be active and you will be placed under arrest once you arrive.“

I asked him to read me my full Social Security Number. He asked why? I said to verify the legitimacy of this. And he read my full social security number out. God damnit. I really doubt this is real, but like… that’s not good.

I insisted it was absurd and there was no way I was paying an ATM, and he just kept saying that’s fine, you can settle it criminally. Meanwhile I was Googling Jury Duty Scams while driving and found something from the Bucks County website saying they will never ask for money over the phone for missing jury duty.

I read him the note to which he replied “Are you using your phone while driving?!“

I told him I’d pulled over; “Mr Stortz, you are to report directly to the Sheriff’s office or pay the bond, you should not be stopping“.

At this point, the jig was up. He hung up shortly after.

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Step 4 – Am I Actually Under Arrest?

At this point I was 10 minutes out from the Sheriff’s office and I’d been on the phone with the guy for exactly 1 hour. I figured fuck it, I’ll go in and confirm. In the moment I’d have put it at 5% that I was going to get arrested. When I walked in, I showed a guy the image above. He took a look and told me it’s a scam. He said people show up all the time with receipts asking to get it settled. I felt stupid but relieved.

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Step 5 – Get Scam Shamed

The most common reaction I’ve gotten after telling a dozen or so people this is “wow, how could you possibly fall for that?“. Of course it all sounds ridiculous!

All I can say is it’s very easy to say that when you’re hearing everything after the fact.

In the moment, it’s not obvious. These scams are built step-by-step. They pull you in with legitimate information, they have the vocabulary down perfectly, and they’re not overly pushy with the money or instruction. They set the dynamic of the situation so that they’re in charge, and you’re following along. They also 100% knew that my listed address was not my current address.

Of course when the thing says to go to a Shell gas station and deposit $3,950, you realize it’s almost certainly not real. Reading it, it’s easy to say “OBVIOUSLY IT’S A SCAM, HANG UP!” But even in that exact moment, I wasn’t willing to hang up the phone. In the time leading up to it, you’ve taken 20 micro-steps to get where you are.

Do I read this post back and wish I wasn’t as gullible? Of course. You have to stay on the line. This has to be settled today. We’re tracking you through your cell phone. All for missing jury duty?!

But clearly these work, and after you’ve experienced it, you understand why and have a little more sympathy to those who fall for it.

To close, I asked ChatGPT what to do if someone has my social and it gave me a very helpful list of things like freeze my credit, put my accounts on fraud alert, etc. Thanks AI!