--- title: "Inmates Ran a $465K Jury Duty Scam From Prison Cells" published: 2026-10-18T00:07:15.528Z updated: 2026-10-18T00:07:30.856Z author: "Trust Onion Editorial Team" canonical: https://trustonion.io/blog/georgia-inmates-jury-duty-phone-scam-sentenced --- # Inmates Ran a $465K Jury Duty Scam From Prison Cells **Cite as:** Inmates Ran a $465K Jury Duty Scam From Prison Cells, Trust Onion, 2026-10-18. https://trustonion.io/blog/georgia-inmates-jury-duty-phone-scam-sentenced Lance Riddle and Joey Amour Jackson were already behind bars at Calhoun State Prison when they extorted more than $464,920 from at least 119 people across the country, using nothing more than contraband cellphones and a way to fake a police department's caller ID. The calls started the same way every time. A voice identifying itself as a law enforcement officer told the person on the other end that they had missed jury duty and that a warrant had been issued for their arrest. To make it go away, the caller said, they needed to pay immediately, in gift cards or by wire transfer. The number on the caller ID matched a real police department. Nothing about it felt like a fraud. Riddle and Jackson ran this operation from inside Calhoun State Prison in Georgia, according to federal prosecutors. They used contraband cellphones and VoIP technology to spoof legitimate law enforcement numbers, giving their fake warrants an air of official weight. By the time federal investigators closed in, the two men had collected more than $464,920 from at least 119 victims across the United States. Both were convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering and have now been sentenced to federal prison on top of the time they were already serving. The scam worked because it weaponized two things most people trust without thinking: a badge and a phone number. Spoofed caller ID is not a new trick, but pairing it with the specific fear of a government warrant turns a cold call into something that feels urgent and personal. Victims who might have hung up on a stranger asking for money stayed on the line because they believed a deputy sheriff was about to show up at their door. ## What the Scam Actually Looked Like The script gave victims no time to think. The caller said the warrant was active, that arrest was imminent, and that the only way to resolve it quickly was to buy gift cards and read the numbers over the phone. Wire transfers were also accepted. By demanding payment in forms that are nearly impossible to reverse or trace, the inmates ensured that even victims who later realized something was wrong had no practical way to recover their money. Real law enforcement agencies do not call to demand gift card payments. They do not threaten immediate arrest over the phone as a prelude to a payment request. A missed jury summons, if it results in any action at all, produces paperwork through the mail and a court process, not a ransom call. --- If you receive a call like this, hang up and call the agency back using a number you find independently, from the court's official website or a government directory. Do not use a number the caller gives you. Verify the claim through an independently sourced contact before taking any action. If you believe someone may be in danger, contact authorities immediately. Trust Onion takes that verification step further for anyone who calls claiming to be someone you know or a trusted institution. The private three-word challenge goes beyond a familiar voice or a convincing caller ID, because a scammer who can fake a police department's number cannot also know three private rotating codewords generated on your phone. Riddle and Jackson are now headed to federal prison for a scheme they ran without ever leaving their cells. The 119 people they called had no reliable way to confirm who was really on the line. That gap, between a spoofed number and the truth, is exactly where scams like this one live. ## A controlled voice-cloning safety demonstration [Try our tool to see just how easy voice cloning is](/clone-my-voice). This controlled safety demonstration exists only to show how easy voice cloning is and to make the risk tangible. It is not a real incident or proof of anyone's identity. Your submitted sample is handled transiently to generate the fixed demonstration audio. Trust Onion does not identify you or the person from the sample, and does not keep the submitted recording or generated audio. The temporary voice clone is deleted from our voice provider as soon as the demo finishes; if that deletion fails, it is retried automatically until the provider confirms it. ## Key takeaways - Two Georgia inmates extorted over $464,920 from 119 victims nationwide using spoofed police numbers and fake jury duty warrants. - Real law enforcement agencies never demand gift card or wire transfer payments over the phone to resolve a missed jury summons. - Caller ID can be faked, so a convincing number is not proof of who is actually calling. ## Frequently asked questions ### What is the jury duty phone scam? Callers impersonate law enforcement, claim you missed jury duty, and threaten arrest unless you pay immediately by gift card or wire transfer. The caller ID is spoofed to show a real police department number, making the threat appear official. ### Can you go to jail for missing jury duty? Missing jury duty can result in a fine or court summons in some jurisdictions, but legitimate courts notify you by mail and through a formal legal process, never by a phone call demanding instant gift card payment. ### How do I verify if a call from law enforcement is real? Hang up and call the agency back using a number you find independently from an official government website or directory. Do not use any number the original caller provides, and never pay by gift card over the phone. ### Can caller ID be faked? Yes. VoIP technology allows callers to display any number they choose, including real police department numbers. A matching caller ID is not proof that the caller is who they claim to be. ### How does Trust Onion help protect against impersonation scams? Trust Onion lets you challenge anyone claiming to be a person you know or a trusted institution with three private rotating codewords. The words change every 60 seconds and are generated on your device, so a spoofed caller cannot know them. ## More from Trust Onion Verify anyone who claims to be someone you know or a trusted institution with Trust Onion. Three private rotating codewords add a check that no spoofed number or cloned voice can pass. **Safety note:** If you cannot reach the person or organization when you call back, do not assume the original caller was really them. For someone in your trusted group, ask them to give all three current words first and check privately in your app; never reveal your words to an unverified caller. For a bank or other organization outside your group, verify through the official app or a number from a card or statement. Use your best judgment, and alert the authorities if you believe someone is in danger.