DENTON COUNTY, Texas — As many as 100 people, including Cheryl Eager and her husband, were taken by surprise when they received last-minute jury summons postcards instructing them to appear at the Denton County courthouse on Monday.
But instead of fulfilling their civic duty, they found they’d been sent fraudulent jury summons postcards.
Eager, initially skeptical of the last-minute notice, took the day off work to go to the courthouse.
"I was a little suspicious," she said. "Why is it such short notice?"
Upon arriving at the courthouse, they found a large number of people waiting in the jury duty line.
“A lady was walking by as we were in line, and my husband asked if they were already dismissing people. She said, ‘This is fraudulent,’” Eager said.
District Clerk David Trantham told WFAA that about 30 to 40 people showed up in person with the fake summons. Another 50 or 60 called to ask about it and about 20 to 30 sent in emails.
“We even received phone calls from individuals outside of Denton County who said they got the summons,” Trantham said.
For those who showed up in person like Eager, the district clerk's office provided notes for people to give to their employers.
The postcards closely mimicked authentic jury summons, adding to the confusion. Trantham told WFAA that it appears someone used a sample jury summons to create the fake summons.
Officials believe this unusual scam was an attempt to sow disruption rather than seek monetary gain. Trantham said there’s no evidence that sensitive information was compromised.
“There’s no data that was actually used that we actually had in our office, so it seems like it’s all randomly generated out of just other public sources,” Trantham said.
However, Trantham urged anyone receiving jury summons to verify them on the district clerk’s website.
“If you’re a real legitimate juror, it will let you proceed through our system,” Trantham said. “If it’s a fraudulent summons, it will not allow you to proceed and continue with the process.”
The Denton County Sheriff’s Office, in collaboration with the U.S. Postal Service, is working to trace the origin of the postcards. Officials are collecting as many of the fraudulent cards as possible to aid their investigation.
For Eager, one question lingers. "Why would someone go to all this trouble?" Eager asked.
Authorities continue their search for a motive and the perpetrator behind the scam.
