Chief David Splain is warning residents about scammers who claim that individuals have missed federal jury duty or ignored a subpoena. This warning comes after a Nether Providence Township woman reported an incident earlier this week.
On April 21, around 3 p.m., she received a call from a man who identified himself as “Sgt. Brian Schneider of the Delaware County Police Department,” using the phone number 610-615-1425. During the call, the impersonator claimed that she had failed to report for jury duty and now had two Class C warrants for her arrest. He told her she could avoid jail by paying $2,500 for each warrant.
Throughout the conversation, the caller insisted she would undergo a signature test to verify her identity. At one point, he said he would connect her with someone else to confirm the legitimacy of the situation and advised her not to Google anything related to the call.
Although the woman was suspicious and thought it might be a fraud, she was concerned because she had jury duty scheduled for Delaware County the following day. Ultimately, she hung up and did not provide any payment.
Sgt. Michael Worrell later checked the CLEAR database for the phone number used to contact the woman and discovered it had been reported for fraudulent activity in the past.
Chief Splain emphasizes that legitimate authorities will never call to demand payment or threaten arrest over missed jury duty. Official jury duty notifications are always sent through the mail, not via phone calls.
“If you receive a call like this, hang up immediately,” Chief Splain advises. “Do not provide personal information or send payments via gift cards, wire transfers, or cryptocurrency.”
In a related note, the FBI recently reported that scammers stole a record $16.6 billion in 2024.
 
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