Jury scam.

Los Angeles Superior Court officials have begun an investigation into a potentially new form of identity theft involving jury service.

In the past month, at least three Los Angeles residents have contacted the local courts about a fraudulent caller who claims to be a jury service employee and requests that they provide their Social Security numbers. The information has been turned over to court security officials.

"We would never contact jurors by phone or ask for the Social Security numbers of jurors," said Susan Matherly, a spokeswoman for Los Angeles Superior Court. "Our advice to people who are potential victims is to hang up on these folks."

In the past month, the Los Angeles Superior Court has been running an alert on its Web site that says, "Los Angeles Superior Court does not--and Will not--telephone jurors or potential jurors and ask them to disclose personal financial information."

Similar scams have popped up in other parts of the country. The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, which operates all the federal courts, began running warnings about the scam on its Web site last month.

Staff reporter Amanda Bronstad can be reached at [phone], ext. 225, or at [e-mail].