HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF)—Officials with the Better Business Bureau want you to be aware of a scam on the rise.

That scam involves someone calling you and claiming that you failed to report for jury duty. The scammer then claims that you need to pay a fine.

The Better Business Bureau said you will not receive a phone call if you missed jury duty.

Karen Reeves with the BBB tells me you would instead receive a notice in the mail letting you know you missed jury duty.

She said you can tell if the call you get is a scam if someone threatens to arrest you or demands payment immediately.

Reves recommends just ignoring the call altogether.

Harry Stanton of Madison tells me that he was almost a scam victim.

Stanton thought he received a call from a Madison County officer telling him that he missed jury duty and needed to call them back immediately.

The scammer told him that warrants could be issued for his arrest if he didn’t pay them.

The scammer told Stanton that he would need to pay almost $30,000 in fines.

“I’m thinking this can’t be real, but I still started getting emotionally involved,” said Stanton. “They were being very persistent and telling me that I have charges. They were deliberately confusing me to get me off balance so that I would just be listening to everything they say, and go along with whatever they were trying to get me to do.”

Stanton decided to call the Madison County Courthouse to confirm if the call was real.

“And as soon as I talked to a lady, she said it’s a scam,” said Stanton. “I mean, just immediately cut me right off and said it’s a scam. We never call about jury duty, so you don’t have anything to worry about. You’re not in any jeopardy or anything like that. So I was very relieved at that.”

Fraudsters will often use intimidation tactics to try to scare you into giving them money or your personal information.

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