Jury Duty Hotline Prank No Joke to Prosecutors, Court Administrators
By:
Updated: July 3, 2012
It's not illegal.
No one is getting scammed out of money.
But if someone sends you a text message containing a phone number and the message at the end of the line tells you that you are in trouble with the law for missing jury duty---don't believe it.
"It's a prank," said Jim DePriest, Arkansas Deputy Attorney General.
Court officials say they've been fielding calls for the past two weeks from people who got a text and called the phone number listed in the text. The message tells the caller they are in trouble for missing jury duty and face up to a $500 fine or 30 days in jail.
Then the message informs the caller this is a joke and to pass it on to others.
The prank hotline comes from Atlanta-based RH Brands, a company that has a hotline humor website featuring 250 prank numbers to pass on to friends.
The company founder, Jeff Goldblatt says the jury duty hotline, like the rest of the numbers in their portfolio, are all in jest and make it clear to the caller that it's all in good fun.
"I'm not sure how and whym people other than court officials (think otherwise)...obviously, that's not our intended goal," Goldblatt told KARK in a telephone interview.
Goldblatt said the jury hotline has been up for two months and has gone viral, netting 2.4 million calls.
Court officials don't think it's a laughing matter.
"When you threaten people with a fine or jail time, that's a problem, that's more than a prank," said Cody Hiland, District 20 Prosecutor for Faulkner, Van Buren and Searcy Counties.
Hiland said he think RH Brands should take the jury hotline offline.
No one is getting scammed out of money.
But if someone sends you a text message containing a phone number and the message at the end of the line tells you that you are in trouble with the law for missing jury duty---don't believe it.
"It's a prank," said Jim DePriest, Arkansas Deputy Attorney General.
Court officials say they've been fielding calls for the past two weeks from people who got a text and called the phone number listed in the text. The message tells the caller they are in trouble for missing jury duty and face up to a $500 fine or 30 days in jail.
Then the message informs the caller this is a joke and to pass it on to others.
The prank hotline comes from Atlanta-based RH Brands, a company that has a hotline humor website featuring 250 prank numbers to pass on to friends.
The company founder, Jeff Goldblatt says the jury duty hotline, like the rest of the numbers in their portfolio, are all in jest and make it clear to the caller that it's all in good fun.
"I'm not sure how and whym people other than court officials (think otherwise)...obviously, that's not our intended goal," Goldblatt told KARK in a telephone interview.
Goldblatt said the jury hotline has been up for two months and has gone viral, netting 2.4 million calls.
Court officials don't think it's a laughing matter.
"When you threaten people with a fine or jail time, that's a problem, that's more than a prank," said Cody Hiland, District 20 Prosecutor for Faulkner, Van Buren and Searcy Counties.
Hiland said he think RH Brands should take the jury hotline offline.
