The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department is warning residents of a telephone scam reported in the area in which the caller poses as a Sheriff’s Department employee.

Locally, sheriff’s officials said, Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department is being cited as the calling party. The caller purports to be a sergeant or lieutenant from a divisions such as the sheriff’s warrant division and claims the call recipient has an outstanding warrant for his or her arrest, or has missed jury duty and risks arrest. The caller provides instructions on how to “pay off” the outstanding warrant or fine, and often leaves a call-back number with a local area code.

Sheriff’s officials stress that area law enforcement agencies never solicit outstanding fines, warrants or citations via telephone. They advise anyone receiving such a call to file a complaint online with the Federal Trade Commission. Officials note that many of these types of calls originate outside the Sacramento area.