A Durham woman lost nearly $2,000 to a fraudulent Durham County jury duty scam, marking one of the hundreds of reported complaints across central North Carolina so far in 2026.
The victim, who didn't want to be named for fear of being targeted again by scammers, said she got the call from someone posing as a sheriff's deputy with the Durham County Sheriff's Office informing her she had three warrants out for her arrest after missing jury duty.
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Although she was skeptical, the scammers had the victim's personal information, including name, address and her car's make and model. They convinced her that $990 was needed for bail for each of her three charges.
"It is embarrassing," the victim, in her early 30s, told WRAL's 5 On Your Side. "I've talked to some people and they're like, 'Oh, you didn't know like this and that,' but it's really convincing. And when they've got bits and pieces about you that kind of legitimize that process."
5 On Your Side requested law enforcement impersonation and court scam data from police departments and sheriff's offices across central North Carolina.
The Raleigh Police Department reported an uptick in jury scam complaints this July. There have been 64 jury duty scams and 46 law enforcement impersonation scams so far in 2026.
Wake Forest Police reported 24 total court-related scams for the year. Countywide, the Wake County Sheriff's Office currently has almost 400 fraud complaints this year, dozens of which are law enforcement impersonation cases.
Here's a breakdown of the court scam data returned by various agencies across the Triangle:
| Agency | Jury or law enforcement impersonation scam reports |
| Chapel Hill Police Department | 14 |
| Cary Police Department | 11 |
| Raleigh Police Department | 110 |
| Wake County Sheriff's Office | 25+ |
| Wake Forest Police Department | 24 |
| Garner Police Department | 6 |
| Knightdale Police Department | 3 |
“We will not call you if you’re in trouble"
Detective Torian Boone, a fraud investigator with the Durham County Sheriff's Office, said what happened to the unnamed victim in Durham exhibits some of the most common similarities across court-related scams.
The scammers overwhelmed the victim with vague technical and legal language, a tactic Boone said prevents people on the other end of the line from taking a second to think about the legitimacy of the call.
“They [scammers] want to create urgency and chaos. They will tell you to stay on the phone, 'Go to the bank right now,' and you're fearful of arrest or punishment," he said.
There are often telltale signs of this kind of scheme:
- Official jury summonses, as well as failures to appear for those cases, are always delivered by mail and not over the phone.
- The actual penalty for missing a jury summons is $50, not hundreds of dollars.
- Claims that you can pay a fine or bond to avoid arrest and jail are not realistic.
Part of what made the unnamed victim in this case so convinced was the receipt of a "mobile escort order." The fake document, watermarked with a fraudulent insignia of a federal district court, stipulated that the victim was under a court directive to stay on the other end of the line with the scammer.
“[The] average person doesn’t know the difference between federal court and state court," Boone said. "They prey upon people’s lack of knowledge.”
Caller identifications can also be deceiving, as scammers have the ability to spoof telephone numbers to appear from a legitimate business or government agency.
A spokesperson for Wake Forest told 5 On Your Side some of the victims there had recently been in traffic collisions, and were told they were issued a citation and would be arrested if they did not pay.
The Orange County Sheriff's Office did not provide specific numbers on scam cases there, but noted staff are fielding a "surge of calls."
"While reports are typically taken after someone realizes they have already been defrauded, front-desk staff are fielding a surge of calls from community members worried they were targeted. Nearly half of the calls received now involve questions regarding some form of scam — commonly jury duty fraud and law enforcement impersonation," a spokesperson for the office said.
Financial headache of falling victim to scams
The Federal Trade Commission maintains a step-by-step guide to try and recoup your money back if you fall victim:
If you paid a scammer, your money might be gone already. But it’s always worth asking the company you used to send the money if there’s a way to get it back.
Across payment apps, wire transfer companies, banks and gift card issuers, the general rule of thumb for victims is to contact those operators immediately and request a refund if possible.
Once the money is gone, though, it can be challenging to receive that money back or be refunded based on the details of how scammers took advantage of the victims.
Authorizations is key in cases like this. In cases where a payment is unauthorized, such as a bank account being hacked, financial institutions may be more likely to refund victims.
Cases like the unnamed Durham woman are trickier, though.
"These institutions are generally not required to reimburse victims who have authorized payments as a result of a scam," writes the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
The Durham victim submitted complaints through the FBI's Internet Crimes portal as well as the FTC, which are advised practices after falling victim to a scam. However, those actions don't guarantee that you'll be compensated back.