Clay County Sheriff's Office Warns of Sophisticated Jury Duty Scam

The Clay County Sheriff’s Office is warning residents about a new and highly deceptive phone scam making the rounds today. A scammer claiming to be a Clay County deputy is contacting numerous residents, urging them to return a call to 816-200-0795. The number connects to what appears to be an official Clay County Sheriff's Office phone tree — but officials confirm it is a fraudulent system.

“This is a scam,” Sheriff’s Office Public Relations Manager Sarah Boyd said in a statement. “It may sound convincing, but do not engage with it.”

The fake phone tree mimics a real administrative phone system, but all menu options funnel the caller to the same selection: “civil service.” From there, victims may be directed to a website that falsely claims to be related to federal civil services. The site appears legitimate at first glance, but on closer inspection, all links redirect to a single account log-in page — and the domain ends in .org, not .gov as all authentic federal websites do.

The underlying scam follows a familiar pattern: targets are told they missed jury duty and now face a warrant for their arrest unless immediate action is taken. However, the added layers of a fake phone system and fraudulent website make this version more convincing — and more dangerous.

The official administrative number for the Clay County Sheriff’s Office is 816-407-3750, and the non-emergency line is 816-407-3700. Any residents receiving suspicious calls are encouraged to report the incident and not provide personal or financial information.

KPGZ News – Brian Watts contributed to this story.