Kentuckians are being warned of a recurring identity-theft scam, though no local cases have surfaced yet.

The method is designed to scare people into revealing personal information over the phone. A warning forwarded by Kentucky Supreme Court Justice John Minton, which had been passed to Kentucky Court of Justice staff, describes the scheme: A caller claims to be a “jury coordinator,” and says the intended victim had failed to report for jury duty, so a warrant has been issued for that person’s arrest.

When the person protests that they never received a summons, the caller asks for a Social Security number and birthdate – sometimes even a credit card number – to verify their identity and cancel the arrest warrant.

Of course, no summons or warrant had been issued in the first place. The caller just seeks to steal someone’s personal information and identity for use in fraud.

The Court of Justice alert says the scam has been reported in at least 11 states, including neighboring Illinois. It’s been verified repeatedly in the last several years on prominent scam-busting Web sites www.snopes.com and www.truthorfiction.com and by the FBI.

“We have not heard of any actual cases of this here,” said Officer Barry Pruitt, spokesman for the Bowling Green Police Department. It’s certainly possible: A similar fraud scheme was working its way through the area a few months ago, he said.

This isn’t the first scam involving criminals who portray themselves as working for the courts or for law enforcement, because the threat of arrest can be very effective for scaring people into releasing personal data, Pruitt said.

Now scammers can even “spoof” caller ID machines with fake readings, making it even harder to verify if calls are legitimate, he said. The key is that actual law-enforcement agencies shouldn’t be asking for personal and financial data over the phone, Pruitt said.

“If somebody calls you on the phone, asking for that type of information – you have to be very careful about what you give out,” he said. “I’d be very leery of giving that sort of information out over the phone, because you can never be 100 percent sure who you’re talking to.”

The FBI has issued numerous warnings about the scam, with the most recent urging anyone who receives such calls to contact their local FBI offices. The Bowling Green office can be reached at 781-4734 or 781-4736, and the main Louisville field office can be contacted at (502) 583-3941.