As The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Sunday (Aug. 9), these scams have surged in the Tampa area. In just one county, authorities have gotten 44 reports of the scam so far this year, compared to 25 for all of 2025.
The scams were like this: A caller, or multiple callers, contacts someone claiming to be a law enforcement officer, telling them they can avoid arrest for missing jury duty by coming up with funds — sometimes in the thousands of dollars — for “bail.”
As the report noted, police will not call people to threaten them with arrest or demanding money over a missed jury summons.
However, cybersecurity experts say these “panic scams” work by triggering a fight-or-flight response in their victims and impairing rational thought, WSJ added. The report cites a Reddit thread about the jury-duty scam in which several people describe being tricked.
“I never would have thought I would fall for this,” wrote one person. Another said the scammers: “basically psychologically kidnap you.”
Sgt. Andrew Miller, head of the economic crimes unit in Pasco County, Florida, told WSJ that anyone unsure about who’s calling should hang up and contact someone they trust.
“The second that they get off the phone is the second they start thinking on their own,” he said.
These incidents are happening amid a surge in imposter scams. Last year, consumers sent the Federal Trade Commission more than 1 million reports about these scams, reporting losses of $3.5 billion, the regulator said in May. Many of these scams involved the threat of punishment, in this case texts seeking payment for overdue tolls.
The PYMNTS Intelligence report “Financial Scams and Consumer Trust” found that 81% of successful scams are impersonation scams in which criminals pose as trusted authorities, friendly strangers or personal contacts. The report also found that scammers deploy a mobile phone or landline in 19% of successful scams, with new artificial intelligence voice and chat technologies now allowing scammers to seem more convincing.
“Scammers exploit trust across all communication channels, from phone calls and email to social media and online ads,” the report said. “These criminals overwhelmingly rely on impersonation tactics, a threat that will only grow as AI technologies evolve.”
