Scammers make threats about fake missed court appearance

Local authorities are warning about scammers pretending to be a police officer, claiming you missed a court date and threatening you with arrest if you don’t give them money.

The Greenwood Police Department has been getting reports of someone attempting to extort money from residents over the last several days, impersonating officers. The scammers are using real names of officers while threatening callers with urgent language to scare them. The calls even may appear to caller ID as if they are coming from the sheriff’s department.

Scammers frequently impersonate law enforcement officials over the phone. Authorities warn you not to give out your personal or financial information to a caller. Law enforcement officers will never ask for you to make a payment over the phone to avoid arrest. And only scammers will ever ask you to purchase gift cards, prepaid debit cards or use a payment app, wire transfer service or crypto currency to pay a debt or fine.

Should you get one of these calls, authorities say that you should hang up.

If you have any questions you call your local authorities.