FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – Fraudulent calls from people claiming to be from the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office and threatening those answering them with arrest for failure to respond to a jury summon have been reported to the Fresno County Superior Court, officials say.

Superior Court officials say the calls are about failing to respond to a jury summons – and warn that an arrest is coming unless they pay a fee.

According to officials, the caller will prove credibility by providing the name of a Fresno Superior Court Judicial Officer, and then they will get personal information about the resident such as name, date of birth, and Social Security number.

Officials say that scams regarding failure to appear for jury summons are common and vary in the types of threats, but all of them have the same objective: get payment and/or leave a home unattended for potential burglary.

The most commonly reported threats are that the person will be arrested – or arrest warrants have been delivered to them if they do not comply, officials stated.

Superior Court officials remind the public that neither the court nor law enforcement agency will call county residents who do not respond to a jury summons, they don’t keep Social Security Numbers, and they will follow up by phone with missing jurors since cases in the courtroom cannot proceed without all of the jurors present.

Officials also advise anyone who receives these calls to never give out personal information over the phone, and if they think the call might be legitimate, to contact their law enforcement agency or the court’s juror office directly after getting information from the court’s website.

They also advised the people to report fraudulent calls to their local law enforcement agency.