Moneywise and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue through links in the content below. Kimberly Fudge, a 38-year-old finance manager living outside Tampa, spent nearly 10 hours last month driving alone, feeding thousands of dollars into cryptocurrency ATMs — convinced that if she didn't pay bail for missing jury duty, she'd be arrested. She lost $25,000. And she never missed jury duty at all.
• Jeff Bezos backs a platform that lets anyone invest in rental homes for as little as $100 — 6 ways to build wealth like a landlord without actually being one
• JPMorgan still sees gold hitting $5,000/oz by Q4 — and savvy investors are protecting their wealth with a tax-advantaged Gold IRA. Learn more with a free guide from Priority Gold
• The tax breaks in Trump's 'big beautiful bill' expire after 2028 — and experts say most people won't act in time. What to do before the window closes The scheme began at 10:43 a.m. on a Tuesday, according to the Wall Street Journal, when an unknown number called her newly arrived refurbished phone. A caller claiming to be from Pasco County said an angry federal judge had issued a warrant for her arrest after she allegedly failed to appear for jury duty. The scammers knew her parents had retired from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Department (1). They offered her a deal: pay bail, confirm her signature didn't match the document's and get a full refund. One condition — a supposed gag order meant she couldn't tell anyone. "They had me scared," Fudge told the Journal. "They knew my Social Security number. They knew how much I had in my bank account. They had every single thing about me (1)." A team of five or more fraudsters, all speaking with convincing Florida accents, kept her on the phone as she drove to a convenience store with abandoned gas pumps and a cryptocurrency machine. She hesitated, then went back in when the "officer's" friendly tone disappeared and he reminded her that deputies were two blocks away. By 6:30 p.m., Fudge had deposited multiple payments totaling $25,000, including a $5,000 credit card cash advance and $3,000 transferred from her husband, Jonathan, after she texted him — on the scammers' instructions — asking for money, no questions asked. Jonathan sent the money without question — but when she asked for more, something didn't feel right. He asked ChatGPT why his wife might need money urgently "no questions asked." The chatbot listed several benign reasons, but also flagged it as a possible scam. He called 911. Kimberly walked through their front door at 8:28 p.m., exhausted and sobbing, but safe.