As
detailed
in
a
previous
article,
lawyers
are
often
the
target
of
scams
since
attorneys
sometimes
hold
significant
sums
of
money
on
behalf
of
clients. However,
sometimes
having
a
legal
background
can
make
it
easier
to
debunk
a
scam
in
progress
and
make
it
less
likely
for
someone
to
be
a
victim
because
lawyers
have
an
increased
understanding
of
how
the
legal
system
works.
Several
months
ago,
I
received
a
phone
call
from
a
number
local
to
my
area
of
New
Jersey. The
individual
on
the
phone
spoke
with
an
authoritative
voice
and
said
he
was
with
the
Bergen
County
Sheriff’s
Office. The
caller
then
gave
me
a
long
case
number
and
told
me
to
write
this
number
down.
As
he
said
the
case
number,
I
did
not
even
bother
writing
it
down
since
I
already
suspected
this
might
be
a
scam
call. (I
once
read
an
article
about
how
scammers
operate
and
know
they
sometimes
try
to
increase
their
legitimacy
with
such
numbers.)
The
caller
said
he
was
pursuing
a
case
against
me
for
allegedly
not
appearing
for
jury
duty
even
though
I
had
been
lawfully
summoned
for
jury
service.
I
politely
told
the
caller
that
I
had
not
lived
in
Bergen
County
for
13
years
so
I
was
not
lawfully
required
to
serve
jury
duty
there.
As
a
result,
I
did
not
know
why
this
individual
was
harassing
me. This
threw
the
scammer
off,
and
he
fumbled
for
what
to
say
next.
The
scammer
then
conveyed
that
he
was
actually
calling
about
a
federal
summons,
so
even
though
I
lived
in
a
different
county,
I
was
still
on
the
hook
for
an
unanswered
federal
jury
summons. I
then
asked
why
the
Bergen
County
Sheriff’s
Office
would
be
calling
me
about
an
alleged
federal
jury
summons. The
person
on
the
other
line
said
that
the
Bergen
County
Sheriff’s
Office
did
indeed
have
authority
over
this
issue.
I
then
asked
wouldn’t
the
U.S.
Marshals
Service
or
some
other
federal
court
agency
have
jurisdiction
over
this
issue?
The
scammer
insisted
that
his
supposed
agency
had
authority,
and
I
asked
whether
having
a
county
sheriff’s
office
enforce
federal
jury
summonses
violate
the
commandeering
doctrine
or
federalism? Again,
I
have
not
really
thought
through
these
issues,
but
I
wanted
to
see
if
I
could
shake
the
scammer’s
confidence,
and
it
seemed
to
work. I
also
remembered
from
reading
an
Above
the
Law
article
that
federal
courts
will
frequently
issue
orders
to
show
cause
by
mail
to
people
who
do
not
respond
to
jury
summonses.
Again,
I
have
no
idea
if
this
is
done
in
my
state,
but
getting
something
in
the
mail
seemed
more
appropriate,
and
the
scammer
had
no
response
to
this
line
of
questioning.
I
ended
the
call
with
the
scammer
telling
me
that
I
could
be
arrested
for
not
responding,
to
which
I
replied
“I
look
forward
to
it”
or
something
similar. I
looked
through
all
kinds
of
court
records
and
could
find
no
evidence
that
any
case
had
been
opened
against
me
for
allegedly
failing
to
appear
for
a
jury
summons. After
some
brief
internet
searching,
I
discovered
that
the
fake
jury
service
fine
scam
is
a
common
one,
and
many
people
just
pay
the
supposed
fine
since
it
is
not
too
large
and
they
want
to
play
it
safe
in
case
the
scam
is
true.
In
any
event,
everyone
needs
to
be
careful
of
scammers
who
deploy
a
variety
of
tactics
to
pilfer
money
from
victims. But
sometimes,
being
a
lawyer
can
make
someone
less
susceptible
to
falling
prey
to
scams.
Jordan
Rothman
is
a
partner
of The
Rothman
Law
Firm,
a
full-service
New
York
and
New
Jersey
law
firm.
He
is
also
the
founder
of Student
Debt
Diaries,
a
website
discussing
how
he
paid
off
his
student
loans.
You
can
reach
Jordan
through
email
at jordan@rothman.law.