Buncombe Woman Loses $5,000 to Fake Sheriff's Office Jury Scam

$5,000 vanished from an Asheville woman's account on Wednesday, April 8, after a man called claiming to be from the Buncombe County Sheriff's Office and told her she had missed jury duty and was in contempt of court. By the time she realized what had happened, the money sent via Apple Pay was gone.

The woman, who was too shaken to share her name, recorded part of the call to warn others. When she reported the incident to the actual Buncombe County Sheriff's Office, a deputy told her she was the tenth person to walk in that day with the same story. The sheriff's office confirmed it is actively working multiple cases tied to the scam.

The scheme follows a tight script. The caller's number is spoofed to display as an official Buncombe County Sheriff's Office line, lending immediate credibility. Once the target picks up, the caller accuses them of failing to appear for jury duty and claims a contempt finding has triggered an arrest warrant. To prevent scammers from exploiting North Carolina's public E-Courts database, investigators have noted that callers sometimes cite real case numbers and real officer names, making the threat feel airtight. Victims are told that hanging up will accelerate their arrest because the "deputies" already have their location. The only way out, the caller insists, is immediate payment through Apple Pay or another digital transfer method that is nearly impossible to reverse.

That irreversibility is what makes the financial damage so difficult to undo. Unlike a credit card charge, Apple Pay transactions are processed instantly and funds rarely recoverable once sent to a fraudulent account.

Two moves stop the scam cold before it reaches the payment stage. First, hang up, regardless of what the caller threatens. Then find the Buncombe County Sheriff's Office non-emergency number independently at (828) 250-6670 and call it yourself. Real deputies will confirm what investigators have stated plainly: the sheriff's office will never ask for payment for fines or judgments over the phone, and there is no monetary fine for missing jury duty. Jury summons are sent by mail. No legitimate court or law enforcement officer will demand money to cancel a warrant over a phone call.

"It breaks my heart that it's happening in my community that has already worked really hard to be in recovery," the victim said, choking back tears.

Scam calls of this type can be reported to the Buncombe County Sheriff's Office, the N.C. Attorney General's Office at 1-877-5-NO-SCAM, or the Federal Trade Commission. Victims are also encouraged to file a complaint with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center. The calls often originate from outside North Carolina and sometimes outside the country, which complicates prosecution, but every report builds the investigative record authorities need to pursue the networks behind them.