2 Westmoreland women fall prey to jury duty scam

Two Westmoreland County women lost a combined $5,000 after falling for a federal jury duty scam, according to the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office.

Both situations were reported to authorities this week.

In the first case, a woman told North Huntingdon police on Tuesday that she received a text message claiming to be from the Westmoreland County Clerk of Courts instructing her to call the courthouse. A person who answered the spoofed number claimed she missed federal jury duty and needed to pay a fine or be subject to a bench warrant, according to Melanie Jones, spokesperson with the district attorney’s office.

The woman told investigators she received a bar code by text and was instructed to send $3,000 through the Vanilla Direct banking service at Walmart.

The second woman on Wednesday reported to county detectives losing $2,000 in an identical manner, Jones said. She lives in the Latrobe area.

The Federal Trade Commission said no court or government agency will ask for payment by phone or personal information like a Social Security number. Only a scammer will ask for payment in forms such as gift cards or cryptocurrency.