Center Grove man loses money in jury duty scam

A Center Grove area man lost nearly $1,000 in a jury duty scam.

The man received a call about 3:30 p.m. Monday from a caller claiming to be with the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office. The caller told him he had missed jury duty and there was a warrant for his arrest, according to the sheriff’s office report.

The caller instructed the man to withdraw $1,000 from his bank account and buy two gift cards while staying on the phone with the caller. The first store did not have the cards, so the caller instructed him to go to another store. He bought a $500 card and then went to another store, where he bought another card for nearly $500, the report said.

He then read the numbers from the cards to the caller, and was told to drive to the sheriff’s office to meet with the caller.

When the man got there, he told sheriff’s office staff what happened, and was told the call was a scam, the report said.

Multiple residents have reported getting similar calls in recent weeks, according to the sheriff’s office.