RUTHERFORD COUNTY, TN - This may come as a surprise… con artists are still at it, attempting to separate hardworking Rutherford County residents from their money. If you’ve somehow managed to miss the last 20 warnings, here’s a friendly reminder: Scammers are relentless, and they’re betting on someone—perhaps you?—falling for their scams, schemes and sketchy shenanigans.

The latest round of scams, according to the Rutherford County Sheriff's Office, includes phone calls claiming you’ve skipped out on grand jury duty. And just to sweeten the deal, they’ll throw in a fake arrest warrant and the oh-so-generous opportunity to “clear it up” by forking over some cash, gift cards, or even Bitcoin. That’s right—because nothing screams "legitimate legal process" like paying fines in cryptocurrency from your couch.

For those keeping track, here’s an important legal update: Sheriff’s deputies do not call you about missing grand jury duty. They don’t text you. They don’t email you. If you have a warrant, they’ll do this crazy thing called showing up at your house. Novel concept, huh?

And if jury duty scams aren’t your thing, maybe you’d prefer a nice, threatening text about unpaid tolls and losing your driver’s license? A bit of a problem, of course, if you haven’t driven on a toll road in years (or ever). Even local deputies have been getting these messages—so unless the scammers are planning on arresting actual law enforcement, it’s safe to say this is, yet again, a scam.

Bottom line: Hang up. Delete the text. Keep your money. And remember—if the scams ever stop, that either means people have finally wised up… or we’ve been scammed into thinking they’ve disappeared.

• Past Scam Related News HERE