ROSS TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A victim in Ross Township has lost thousands of dollars as part of a jury duty scam, the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office announced Thursday.
Mike Manko, spokesperson for the sheriff’s office, said the victim received a call in which the caller ID read “Allegheny Cnty Sheriffs Dept” along with the number 412-350-4700.
The victim was told that an arrest warrant had been issued for not showing up to jury duty. Manko said the caller then requested $8,550 in Bitcoin to clear the warrant, and the victim ended up sending the funds through a Bitcoin ATM.
An investigation uncovered that the funds were tracked to Binance in France, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world. Manko said the sheriff’s office has not been able to isolate the actual account that received the funds.
Sheriff Kevin Kraus is reminding residents that their office would never serve a warrant by phone and would never ask for any sort of payment over the phone. Their office also doesn’t use any sort of electronic transfer of funds when dealing with warrants or fines, including Venmo, Zelle and other phone apps, nor would they ask for payments in gift cards or cryptocurrency.
If anyone receives this type of call from someone claiming they are from the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office, do not send any money and immediately call the office’s investigations division at 412-350-4709.
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