This jury duty scam asks you to pay a fine with a gift card. Don’t.

Midlands residents are being warned about a scam targeting them, claiming owe money because they failed to report for jury duty.

The scam involves emails and telephone calls, according to a statement released by Newberry County Sheriff Lee Foster and Newberry County Clerk of Court Beth Folk.

The scam advises the recipient that they failed to report and were required to go to a website.

In reality, if a person fails to report for jury duty, they would not get an email or phone call demanding money or strict instructions to go to a website, according to the statement, which added that Newberry County sends jury subpeonas through the mail.

Do not open any links to websites that are not verifiable, according to the statement, which said government emails won’t be sent via Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, or any other public domain.

Most importantly, do not send money to any source that is not verified, the statement warned, while assuring that “government” does not ask for gift cards or pre-paid debit cards. Any request involving those as means of payment are a dead giveaway of a scam.

This story was originally published February 1, 2018 at 12:44 PM with the headline "This jury duty scam asks you to pay a fine with a gift card. Don’t.."