GREEN COVE SPRINGS – The phone calls are terrifying, compelling, belligerent and believable.

And they are a scam.

The Clay County Clerk of Courts said it receives calls weekly from residents who said they received calls about missing jury duty. Some clone or spoof telephone numbers that look like legitimate law enforcement.

But while their approaches may vary, they share a common goal – an aggressive shakedown that involves huge payments by threatening jailtime.

“So, it's kind of peaks and valleys that our calls come in,” said the Clerk Office’s Criminal Department Manager Stephanie Wright. “People call and say, ‘I received a call about a warrant for my arrest,’ or ‘I received a call that I'm going to be arrested, or a warrant is going to be issued if I don't make a payment.'”

The Clerk’s and Sheriff’s Office continually warn residents about the common scam, but their words too often go unheeded. They know what many don’t realize: scammers are convincing, and they don’t take “no” for an answer.

“So, we do our best to educate people,” Clerk’s Office Chief Operations Officer Tracie McRae said. “The clerk's office is never going to call you. We're never going to call you to say you missed jury duty. That's not our process, nor is it the sheriff's office's process to do that. We are not an arresting agency. We’re not going to issue a warrant for anyone.”

And yet, people fall for it all the time, McRae said. Her office has heard stories of county residents recently being duped out of large amounts of money, $3,500 and $5,000, each.

“We had a young lady who mailed us the receipts off of money orders to show that she had paid,” McRae said. “And we were like, ‘Oh, gosh.’ And it was a couple of thousand dollars. It was, it was quite a large amount.”

And that’s from the people who admit they’ve been scammed. Wright said many, especially seniors, go unreported.

“They say, ‘What would the neighbors think? What would the church think? So, they don't say anything,'” she said. “They just pay, and they just sweep it under the rug because they're embarrassed.”

The Clerk’s and Sheriff’s offices said everyone should follow these basic rules if they receive a phone call about missed jury duty, or any other legal matter:

• The Clerk’s and Sheriff’s offices will never call anyone about an outstanding legal matter. In fact, the Clerk’s Office doesn’t have the telephone numbers of residents since jury duty rolls come from the driver’s license office. If you get such a call, hang up immediately.

• Never agree to pay a fine by meeting someone in public or over the phone. Neither agency accepts money that way, so hang up. Scammers usually demand immediate payment through cryptocurrency, prepaid gift cards, credit card numbers, cash payments or a payment kiosk.

• If you doubt whether you missed jury duty, hang up and call the Clerk’s Office at (904) 278-3692, McRae said.

• Don’t believe a scammer’s strong-armed tactics or threats. Hang up and report the crime to the Clay County Sheriff’s non-emergency line at (904) 264-6512.

“Scammers rely on fear and urgency,” the sheriff’s office posted on its social media pages. “They may sound professional, use the names of real CCSO employees, and insist that you stay on the phone while you withdraw or transfer money.”

Like the Clerk’s Office, the Sheriff’s Office has a simple, yet emphatic, two-word response to handle any call to pay a fine for missing jury duty or an outstanding warrant: “Hang up.”

Earlier this month, a 22-year-old Savannah, Georgia, man was arrested for posing as a Monroe County Sheriff’s Office deputy in the Florida Keys and demanding a Marathon man to pay $22,500 to avoid being arrested.

The victim said he paid somebody posing as an undercover officer in a grocery store parking lot. The victim then became suspicious and he called the authorities when the sheriff’s office supposedly called back to ask for an additional $31,500.

Wright said her office’s computer system randomly selects names of county residents who have a driver’s license. Jury duty starts on Mondays, with judges deciding how many possible jurors will be needed for an upcoming trial. Those numbers are dwindled during voir dire by the prosecution and defense attorneys.

For example, the total pool of jurors may be cut down to 36 for one trial, then to six with one alternate.

“We want to calm a lot of people down and tell them and reassure them we have not issued a jury summons to you,” McRae said. “Please call the Sheriff's Office, report it.”

Unfortunately, McRae said the call is too late.

“Most of the time, it's after the fact,” she said, “and they have already paid.”