On April 23, 2026, city units responded to the Justice Center for a possible fraud report. The reporting individual stated that he had received a phone call from a number he looked up and believed belonged to the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department. The caller, identifying himself as Sgt. Smith, claimed the individual had a Failure to Appear warrant for missing jury duty obligations.

When the individual explained that he had never received any jury duty summons letter, the caller replied that this was a common excuse and offered to handle the matter as a civil issue rather than criminal. The caller stated that if the fine was paid, the charges would be dropped, but if the individual came to the Sheriff’s Office in person, he would be booked and could be held for up to fourteen days.

The individual agreed to cooperate and, following instructions, withdrew and paid a total of $1,760 through three transactions: $1,000 at Walmart, $500 at Speedway, and $260 at CVS. He was sent barcodes via text message to scan and complete the payments at the stores. The barcodes linked to payithere.com, which opened to a “Vanilla Direct Pay” website. The individual provided copies of the receipts, barcodes, and the phone number used to send them, and this evidence was stored in Axon Evidence.