MURFREESBORO, TN – In today’s shocking development from the Department of Obvious Frauds, WGNS is once again reporting on the age-old "You Missed Jury Duty" scam—because evidently, it still works. Yes, in a world of smartphones, Google, and common sense, scammers are managing to convince people they forgot to show up for a federal grand jury they were never summoned to in the first place.

A Murfreesboro woman was recently targeted by one such scammer claiming to be “Deputy Mike Evans.” (Spoiler: there is no Deputy Mike Evans.) He told her she missed a grand jury date—something that probably would’ve come with a few more official documents than a random phone call—and that he had a subpoena ready and was recording the call. Sounds super legit, right?

To her credit, the woman did what anyone with a working brain cell would do: she said she’d call the actual sheriff’s office. At that point, the fake deputy mysteriously vanished from the phone like a ghost of bad ideas past. She then called the real Rutherford County Sheriff's Office and—surprise!—learned that they do not, in fact, have a Deputy Mike Evans issuing subpoenas via phone.

The federal United States Courts have even set off the warning light about the ongoing scam stating, "People are being targeted by phone call, email, and messaging scams threatening them with prosecution for failing to comply with jury service."

Officials want to remind everyone for the millionth time:

• The sheriff's office does not call you about federal grand jury duty.
• They do not threaten people for missing jury duty.
• They never ask for money, especially not over the phone, through gift cards, or in Bitcoin.

So if someone calls claiming to be law enforcement and demands payment for your imaginary absence in court, don’t panic—just hang up and enjoy the warm satisfaction of not being scammed today.