Some Brandon residents have been contacted by scammers via phone, text, or email, saying that they have missed jury duty and a warrant will be issued for their arrest unless a fee is paid. 

This feee has been as high as $20,000 and as low as $5,000. The scammer says they will negotiate based on the availability of funds the victim has. The victim is instructed to pull cash from their accounts and deposit it in select ATMs, usually Bitcoin ATMs.

These scammers have “spoofed” the Rankin County Sheriff Department’s phone number to further make the scam seem valid. Local law enforcement agencies (Brandon Police Department and/or Rankin County Sheriff’s Department) will NOT contact residents via phone regarding a misdemeanor warrant, jury duty, or request money via an ATM.

At any point, if you receive any communication that resembles this jury duty scam, hang up immediately and contact Sgt. Jerry Spell, CFE, at 601-825-7225 x 328 or jspell@brandonms.org.