The Amarillo Police Department has received calls of scammers posing as law enforcement officials. The callers are claiming that the victim has failed to appear for court and that a warrant has been issued. These calls are being spoofed to look like they are coming from a law enforcement phone number. They are asking that the warrant be taken care of by paying a fee. Law enforcement agencies will not contact you and ask that a fine or warrant be handled by paying over the phone. Law enforcement officials will never ask that fines and warrants be paid by gift card or bit coin. Scammers can be very convincing at times, if they weren’t, they would not stay in business. If you do happen to answer one of these calls, the best thing you can do is hang up. If you are unsure of the call and would like to get more information, hang up and contact your local law enforcement agency. Just because the number calling you looks like an official number does not mean it is. Spoofing phone numbers has become very popular and can be easy to do. If someone shows up at your door that you don’t know, do not answer the door. It is always best to slow down and ask yourself if this whole situation makes sense. Once we have taken a few seconds to think about it, without the scammer continuing to talk to us, the situation becomes more clear and in most cases we can easily realize that this is a scam.
