Anyone with a telephone, cell or wired, know that phone scammers always seem to find you.  There are a variety of ways thieves pry upon unsuspecting people.

The Fishers Police Department wants to alert local residents of a new angle on this scam – saying there is an arrest warrant out for you and instructing you to buy a gift card.  Sadly, some local people have been victimized.

Below is the full text of the Fishers Police message:

==========

Over the past several weeks the Fishers Police Department has responded to several different types of telephone scams. One of the most recent scams involved a suspect accusing the victim of having an outstanding arrest warrant and demanding they send gift cards to clear their name.

Many of these telephone scammers instruct the victim to stay on the phone, not tell anyone of the conversation, and travel to a store and purchase gift cards or green dot cards for a certain amount. Unfortunately, there have been a few Fishers residents that have been taken advantage of and have lost thousands of dollars. Here are a few safety tips you should follow if you are contacted by a possible telephone scammer:

• Immediately hang up the phone if you do not recognize or know the caller
• Never give out personal information. If you feel the call might be legitimate, you can ask the person to mail you information
• Never provide gift card numbers to anyone over the telephone
• No legitimate company or organization requires payment via gift cards or green dot cards
• No law enforcement agency threatens to arrest people over the phone
• If something does not sound or feel right, hang up the phone
• You are welcome to contact your local law enforcement agency, however most of these telephone scams originate from overseas and are very difficult if not impossible to trace.