SFPD Alert Community of Latest Warrant Scam

San Francisco Police have received new information that scammers are contacting citizens claiming they have outstanding “Failure to Appear” warrants for not participating in mandatory jury duty. The suspects use convincing information such as the victim’s true address and phone number, names of actual judges, and official office locations to validate their call.

In these incidents, the victim is instructed to clear the warrant immediately by one of the following methods: 1) turning themselves in at a specified location, 2) agreeing to have a San Francisco Sheriff Deputy pick them up at their home, or 3) clearing the warrants by paying for them over the phone.

The suspects convince the victim to clear the warrants by phone payment and subsequently instruct the victim to load a specific dollar amount onto a “Green Dot” card. The suspect then instructs the victim to give the card information over the phone. Simultaneously, the suspect is elsewhere accessing the account and emptying out the funds. Lastly, the suspect issues the victim a false court date to “finalize” clearing of warrants.

San Francisco Police urge all members of the community to be suspicious of strangers calling for money to pay outstanding warrants as this is not the correct procedure. To find out whether you have outstanding warrants and clear them appropriately, please contact the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department Central Warrants Bureau at (415) 553-1871.

Anyone with information on this case is urged to contact San Francisco Police Special Victims Fraud investigators at 415-553-9225, the Anonymous tip line at 415-575-4444, or text-a-tip to TIP411 with SFPD at the beginning of the message.