When your two choices are paying up or being put behind bars, Nicole Sickles found thinking clearly is easier said than done. 

Sickles, a mom of five currently battling cancer, reached out to WRAL News after almost falling victim to a jury duty scam, had there not been a last-second intervention from her daughter. 

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"How convincing was it," WRAL News asked.

"I was reaching for my wallet,” Sickles said.

Order of events, and commonality of law enforcement impersonation

The caller on the other end of the line identified themselves as a specific Wake County Sheriff's Deputy to Sickles, including providing a badge number. 

"He says, 'Ma'am it looks like you’ve missed jury duty. When you miss it we send several officers out for an arrest warrant," Sickles added.

Not wanting to be separated from her children and grandchildren, Sickles reached for her wallet. Only to be stopped by her daughter who caught wind of the conversation and prompted her to hang up the phone. 

Sickles, a Fuquay-Varina resident, said her willingness to pay came from compounded stress from a recent cancer diagnosis, and that she didn't expect someone going through that to be taken advantage of. 

“You don’t expect to be at a vulnerable state in your life and someone takes advantage of you," Sickles said. "You asked why I wanted to speak and it was because I wanted people to know it could happen to anyone.”

How common is law enforcement impersonation?

WRAL News requested data on fraud reports to the Wake County Sheriff's Office for 2026. 

There are 181 fraud reports so far this year. Although they're unable to verify how many of those are jury scams specifically, WCSO official noted five confirmed instances where a law enforcement officer was impersonated. 

“The clerks office or the sheriff's office, no one is calling you to pay money over the phone. We don’t do it that way. You’ll actually get a letter in the mail," officials said. 

How to avoid Sheriff's Office related scams:

  • Do not engage in a conversation with a suspected scammer
    • Sheriff's Office staff will never ask for money over the phone
      • Do not answer any emails if you do not know who is sending them or where they are coming from. 
        • Gift cards and cryptocurrency are telltale signs of scams
          • If you must call someone and you want to verify their phone number, research the number to see if it matches the number that they are calling from.