The Anchorage Police Department has received reports from citizens who stated they were contacted via phone from a person claiming that a fine was owed due to missing jury duty.  The suspect caller then directed the citizens to pay off that fine by purchasing gift cards and then reading off the gift card numbers to the suspect over the phone.  In at least one of these cases, the phone number that appeared on the victim’s cell phone Caller ID was 907-786-8900 which is the actual phone number for the Anchorage Police Department.  APD will NOT ever initiate a call to a citizen, and then ask that citizen for payment over the phone, for anything.  If you truly have a concern that you may have missed jury duty, please contact the court system directly.
 
Not only will no legitimate government office ask you for payment over the phone, they will NEVER ask for payment in gift cards.  Do not fall for this scam.  Hang up immediately should you receive one of these calls.
 
To file a report online regarding phone scams, please do so with the Federal Trade Commission at ftccomplaintassistant.gov/ and with the Anchorage Police Department at www.muni.org/police.

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