Carrollton jury duty scam
CARROLLTON, Ga. (FOX 5 Atlanta) - It's a scam spanning between Georgia and North Carolina. It involves a woman who was fooled into sending thousands of dollars to a scammer after she was threatened with arrest for not showing up for jury duty.
"She's using some of the money that was scammed out of a victim in North Carolina at a jury scam," said Lt. Blake Hitchcock with the Carrollton Police Department.
The woman was seen on surveillance at a QuikTrip on Bankhead Highway on the outer edge of Carrollton. Lt. Hitchcock said she spent money from a green dot gift card bought in the Carrollton area. But the funds originated hundreds of miles away in Laurinburg North Carolina.
Lt. Hitchcock told FOX 5 News a woman there was scammed into paying more than $4,000 when someone identifying himself as a deputy called threatening to arrest her for failing to show up for jury duty.
"He said you have two warrants for your arrest but to avoid being arrested you can actually pay a fine over the phone and she believed it," said Lt. Hitchcock.
Hitchcock said the woman bought nine green dot gift cards on three separate occasions to pay off her supposed warrants.
"She actually called him back and gave him the actual numbers off the back where when you do that they're able to use those numbers and use the money," said Lt. Hitchcock.
He said it's unclear who the man is but the woman was recorded at the QT spending some of that money.
Carrollton resident Joe Nalley is convinced he's seen her before.
"She was at the QuickTrip begging for money on the sidewalk," said Nalley.
Carrollton Police are unsure of the woman's role in the scam.
Investigators told FOX 5 News money was also spent at a Dollar General Store, this Bar and Grill, and seven other locations mostly on Bankhead Highway.
They're also searching for a woman wearing sunglasses whose picture was taken at an ATM in another jurisdiction.
Lt. Hitchcock said both women are considered persons of interest.
"They could be the runners going to get the money. They might think they're doing something legitimate which they are not but it may not be illegal," said Lt. Hitchcock.
Anyone with information on this case is asked to contact Lt Hitchcock at the Carrollton Police Department at 770-834-4451.