Lehigh County Sheriff Joe Hanna is warning area residents to be wary of callers portraying themselves as members of the sheriff’s office in an effort to swindle residents.

According to a news release dated Nov. 26, residents reported receiving telephone calls from scammers advising the resident to pay a fine or risk apprehension or incarceration.

Callers tell residents they are to be fined for failing to appear for jury duty or respond to warrants, for example.

The callers tell residents to buy a disposable debit card and call the scammer back to give the scammer the PIN number for the card to pay the fine.

“In a number of cases, names of actual Lehigh County Sheriff’s deputies have been used and official phone numbers have been “spoofed” to appear on caller ID [displays] to legitimize” the scams, according to the news release.

Hanna explained deputies do not collect money as part of their daily work and warned the scams are frequent.

“Anyone is subject to being targeted,” Hanna warned.

Anyone who receives a call requesting money on behalf of the Lehigh County Sheriff is encouraged to call the sheriff’s office at 610-782-3175.