A couple of posts ago we talked about phishing scams. This is an ID theft attempt where someone contacts you, claiming to be from an important organization like your bank or the IRS. They ask you to confirm personal information, whether that's bank account, credit card or Social Security number.

Another scam in the phishing phamily is the jury duty scam. A friend forwarded me this e-mail received in the last week or so:

This has been verified by the FBI. Please pass this on to everyone in your email address book.. It is spreading fast so be prepared should you get this call. Most of us take summons for jury duty seriously, but enough people skip out on their civic duty, that a new and ominous kind of scam has surfaced. The caller claims to be a jury coordinator. If you protest that you never received a summons for jury duty, the scammer asks you for your Social Security number and date of birth so he or she can verify the information and cancel the arrest warrant. Give out any of this information and bingo; your identity just got stolen.

This is a legitimate warning. We have seen the jury duty scam in Missouri - AG Nixon put out an alert on it in 2006.

As with all these scams, the rule is: don't give out personal information unless you initiate the contact. ANYONE can call or e-mail you, say they're from the bank and sound important. Only when you initiate the contact can you be sure who you're talking to.