The Clallam County Sheriff’s Office is warning residents to be aware of a new telephone scam that suggests call recipients failed to report for jury duty and must pay a fine.

A county resident recently reported a phone call she received from an individual who identified himself/herself as a Clallam County Sheriff’s deputy.

The caller told the individual that she had failed to report for her jury duty responsibilities. The citizen became suspicious when the caller attempted to learn her home address and to access other personal information.

Instead, the call recipient terminated the phone call and called the Sheriff’s Office to verify the call’s legitimacy.

According to sheriff’s office officials, the office does not call individuals and ask for personal information over the telephone as a matter of policy and procedure; the sheriff’s office seeks personal information in person.

Anyone receiving a call seeking personal information or asking for money is advised to simply end the call, sheriff’s office officials said.In the aforementioned scam, an individual posing as a deputy sheriff calls and claims you have failed to respond to a jury summons and that a warrant has been issued for your arrest.

When you state that you have never received a summons, the caller says he or she requires information for “verification purposes” in order to “cancel the arrest warrant.”

At this point, the caller asks for sensitive information such as address, Social Security number, date of birth and even bank or credit card information.

If you receive such a call, do not give out any sensitive personal information, sheriff’s office officials advise.

Hang up immediately and report the incident.The Washington State Attorney General’s Office provides updated information on common scams at its website at www.atg.wa.gov.

View more information about phone scams and file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission online at www.consumer.ftc.gov.