Florida woman was told she’d missed jury duty and faced arrest, so she spent nearly 10 hours on the phone handing over $25,000

A Tampa-area woman lost $25,000 after scammers convinced her she had missed jury duty and would be arrested unless she paid bail. The ordeal lasted nearly 10 hours and involved at least five callers posing as law enforcement officers.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Kimberly Fudge, 38, a finance department manager for a government contractor, received the first call at 10:43 a.m. on a Tuesday last month. The caller said he was from Pasco County and asked her to hold for a sheriff’s deputy.

The scammers had detailed personal information about Fudge, including her Social Security number and bank account balance, and were able to see her texts and internet searches during the calls.

The scam relied on fear and constant pressure

The caller told Fudge she had missed jury duty in a federal case and that a judge had issued a warrant for her arrest. He said a gag order in the case meant she could face charges if she told anyone about the situation.

“I’m a rule-follower,” Fudge said. “I couldn’t go to jail for 30 days.” She has a mechanical engineering degree with a math minor, and lives outside Tampa with her husband and 7-year-old daughter. Scams that use urgency and fear to control victims have drained savings from other families, including an elderly couple who lost their life savings to a scheme that unfolded over several years.

The caller told her to pay $15,000 in bail. When she said she only had access to $4,000, he told her to get that amount instead. She was directed to a convenience store with a cryptocurrency machine, where she was told to scan a QR code and deposit cash.

Fudge began to doubt the situation and asked the caller if she was at the right location. The caller’s tone changed, and he told her he was tracking her location and that deputies were nearby. She went back inside and made the deposit.

After that payment, a different caller said a judge had reviewed her finances and would not approve the lower bail amount, meaning she now owed the full $15,000. Fudge made two more deposits from a separate account, bringing her total to $17,000 by 2 p.m.

The callers then told her to drive to the sheriff’s office, but ordered her to pull over before arriving, saying the bail needed to be paid all at once rather than in parts. When Fudge said she suspected it was a scam, a new caller identified as a marshal took over and told her not to move while officers were sent to arrest her.

At the scammers’ instruction, Fudge texted her husband, Jonathan, 40, asking him to send her $5,000 through PayPal without asking questions. Jonathan, who runs an event business as a balloon artist, sent the money. Fudge forwarded $3,000 of it to the scammers before PayPal’s fraud protections stopped further transfers.

Jonathan later asked ChatGPT why his wife might need money without explanation, and the chatbot told him it could be a scam. When Fudge texted asking for another $2,500, he refused to send more until he confirmed she was safe, and he called 911.

By 6:30 p.m., Fudge had been on the phone for nearly eight hours without eating. The scammers connected Jonathan to the call and warned Fudge not to speak unless told to, threatening to “retrieve” her from her location.

Jonathan told the callers that Fudge could stop at home for a debit card before going to an ATM. As she headed home, the callers threatened to arrest both of them and suggested she stay in a hotel overnight to gather more money the next day.

Fudge arrived home at 8:28 p.m., nearly 10 hours after the first call. A real sheriff’s deputy came to take a report. Jonathan told her, “I don’t care about the money. We can make more money. I’m just happy you’re home.” Disputes involving pressure and money have also surfaced in other contexts, such as a case involving a boyfriend’s Tesla that a woman says she was misled into signing away.

The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office has received 44 reports of similar jury-duty scams this year, up from 25 for all of last year, according to Sgt. Andrew Miller, head of the office’s economic-crimes unit. Miller said people unsure about a caller’s identity should hang up and contact someone they trust.

The Federal Trade Commission reported that Americans lost $3.5 billion to impostor scams in 2025, nearly three times the amount lost in 2020.

In the three weeks since the incident, Jonathan has spent time researching ways to protect the family’s data and finances. Fudge said she is still having trouble sleeping and has not regained her appetite. She returned the phone she had been using, which authorities collected this week, and is now using her previous phone.