Not yet three months into 2025, and the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office reports scammers have stolen more than a million dollars from residents already this year. According to the sheriff's office, they're seeing an "alarming increase" in jury summons scams, warrant scams, and failure to appear scams. In each case, the scammers are imitating law enforcement. HCSO said scammers convince victims to call a 1-800 number to pay a fee to resolve a false issue. Victims may also be contacted by "a spoofed number that appears to be a law enforcement agency or a legitimate business." The scammers typically have the victim's name, date of birth, address, and more. Kathy O'Berry received a call in February from someone claiming to be a Hillsborough County sheriff's deputy, who told her she'd missed jury duty and must pay up or risk being arrested. "I'm usually really good at picking up scams, but it was very very real," said O'Berry. "It was very scary. I told them, I've never done anything illegal in my life and I'm happy to do jury duty." A few things made the scheme convincing. Specifically, the call came from a number that belonged to the Hillsborough Sheriff's Office in Ybor, and the caller used the name of a real deputy with the department. "He was very authoritative. He told me to stop, be quiet, and listen to what I'm telling you," said Kathy. Fortunately, Kathy refused to send the $7,000 he demanded. Then, she called the real police. "I said, 'I just got the most unusual phone call!' And he said, 'let me guess, jury duty?' And I said yes, and he said, 'It's a scam.' Sheriff Chad Chronister said he's not surprised scammers are imitating law enforcement.