Athens Daily Review
HENDERSON COUNTY, Ga. — The Henderson County Sheriff’s Office, with the help of the Georgia Department of Corrections, has identified the persons responsible for the jury duty scam that occurred earlier this month.
HCSO Chief Dep. Botie Hillhouse said the primary suspect, Aaron Calvin Mills, is a 24-year-old Georgia resident, and had been making the calls from that state. Mills is currently incarcerated in the Georgia State Penitentiary for unrelated offenses.
“No one here was out any funds, so criminal charges about the scam won’t be filed here, but in Georgia,” Hillhouse said.
Hillhouse said Mills will now be facing probable federal charges in relation to those related to the jury duty scam. The calls had been going out nationwide.
According to the HCSO, in the original scam, persons representing themselves to be employees of the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office were contacting residents by telephone, and demanding that they obtain a prepaid credit card to satisfy a warrant that had been issued due to them having missed jury duty. Calls had been reported, not only in Henderson County, but also in some other counties in the area.
Hillhouse said Investigator Nick Webb followed up on the case after the HCSO became aware of the scheme. Collaborating with Investigator Shawn Corley of the Georgia Department of Corrections, they were able to link the calls to Mills.
Sheriff Ray Nutt said the HCSO never calls a person to collect a fine for missing jury duty.
The Better Business Bureau warns that the scammers will commonly ask for confidential information, such as your Social Security number and birthday for “verification purposes.” Never provide any account or other personal information during such phone calls.