Woman was told to pay a $4,500 fine for missing jury duty — one detail about her town made her end the call with six words
It takes one transaction, one phone call, one moment of misplaced trust for things to go haywire. However, it can also take one detail to catch something suspicious. WMAR 2 News Baltimore reported one such incident on Thursday, July 16, 2026. Resident Nadine O’Drain received a call from the Anne Arundel County Sheriff's Office, stating that she missed appearing for jury duty and had to pay a fine of $4,500. At first, she was confused and kept asking questions to gain as much clarity as possible. That’s when one word prompted her to end the call.
When the man on the other end of the line claimed that she had missed jury duty and owed the fine, O’Drain was shocked and quickly informed him that she had never even known she was scheduled for jury duty. As she continued asking questions, one slip-up exposed the truth. "First, he said he was from the federal court, and he said 'serve-in,' which I knew was a mispronunciation for Severn,” O’Drain recalled. When she told him there was no court there, he corrected himself and said he meant “Anna-nap-polis.” Again, it was a mispronunciation. O’Drain said, "And I could pay the fine on Church Street. Well, I know there's no Church Street; it's Church Circle." Finally, she said six words: “I think this is a scam,” and the call ended immediately.
Everything about the call felt real until a certain point. Because the call appeared to come from an Annapolis number, O’Drain answered it. The caller sounded authoritative, and the contact information appeared legitimate. The callback recording also identified itself as the “Anne Arundel County Sheriff.” But O’Drain knew better. The first red flag was that she was confident she was a law-abiding citizen and would have been aware if she had any such obligation. The caller later claimed that failure to appear carried a $4,500 fine, while a contempt of court charge resulted in another $4,500 penalty. The man was close to convincing her when she called his bluff.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, imposter scams were among the fastest-growing fraud schemes in 2025. People lost nearly $920 million to fraudulent calls from individuals impersonating government officials. The Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County notes that the fine for missing jury duty is $1,000. However, there is a fixed procedure for handling such matters.
Maryland Courts has stated that it never asks for Social Security numbers or personal financial information regarding jury duty issues. Officials urge residents to contact their local jury office to verify any fines. They also encourage individuals never to share sensitive information through unsolicited phone calls or emails. O’Drain later realized that the day she received the call, July 3, was a holiday and the courts were closed. She added that many of her friends and acquaintances had fallen for similar scams in the past. Maryland courts do not call residents demanding payment for missed jury duty.