Key points

• A woman in Forsyth County, Georgia, lost $4,900 after being told she had missed jury duty and would be arrested unless she paid.
• The money was deposited into a Bitcoin ATM, according to local reporting on the case published on 16 September.
• The FTC warned in June that callers claiming a missed jury duty may threaten arrest unless payment is made in cryptocurrency.
• The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center logged more than 13,400 crypto kiosk complaints in 2025, with losses above $388 million.
• In Arizona, 35 crypto ATM fraud victims received $171,332 in refunds under a state law with eligibility and reporting requirements.

A woman in Forsyth County, Georgia, lost $4,900 after someone told her she had missed jury duty and had to pay to avoid arrest, Bitcoin.com News reports. The money went into a Bitcoin ATM, according to local reporting on the case published on 16 September. Authorities said the arrest threat was part of the scam.

The demand combined two elements common to similar fraud cases: fear of a warrant and instructions to send money immediately. The Federal Trade Commission warned in June that callers claiming someone missed jury duty may threaten arrest unless the person pays in cryptocurrency. Courts do not demand payment by phone.

Jury duty demand

The tactic has featured in court warnings before this Georgia case. A previous jury duty scam warning described fraudsters using alleged arrest warrants to demand bitcoin, gift cards or banking information. In the Forsyth County case, the reported result was a $4,900 deposit into a machine that converts cash into cryptocurrency.

A Bitcoin ATM, also called a cryptocurrency kiosk, lets someone deposit cash and send cryptocurrency to a digital wallet. The person making the deposit may be following a caller's instructions, while the destination belongs to the scammer. The FBI has warned that fake law enforcement threats involving crypto ATMs can pressure people into paying before they verify the claim.

How kiosk payments work

Impersonation lets a caller make an unfamiliar payment request sound like an official procedure. Fraudsters may pose as representatives of trusted organisations in Bitcoin-related scams, then push targets towards a transfer controlled by the caller. In a jury duty scheme, the supposed legal deadline adds pressure, while a crypto kiosk turns deposited cash into a digital payment.

The FTC says a caller ID showing a police number cannot prove a call is genuine. Its jury duty warning states that law enforcement will not call to threaten arrest for hanging up, and a court will not demand a phone payment. A request to settle a supposed warrant at a cryptocurrency kiosk is therefore a sign of fraud, however official the caller sounds.

Kiosk losses nationwide

The Forsyth County loss sits within a much larger set of reported cryptocurrency kiosk scams. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center received more than 13,400 complaints involving kiosks in 2025, with losses exceeding $388 million, according to its 15 May state-by-state data release. The bureau cautions that some complaints also involved other types of transactions, so the full loss total cannot be assigned solely to kiosks.

States have begun addressing kiosk losses through consumer protection measures. In Arizona, 35 crypto ATM fraud victims received $171,332 in refunds under a state law with eligibility and reporting requirements. That outcome concerns Arizona victims and does not establish whether the woman in Georgia can recover her $4,900. The FBI asks anyone who sent funds through a crypto kiosk in a suspected scam to keep receipts and transaction details, and to report the kiosk location, destination wallet address if available, and caller information to local police and the bureau's Internet Crime Complaint Center.

Read the full article on Bitcoin.com News →