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The Utah County Sheriff's Office is the latest in a growing list of public agencies warning Utahns about scammers posing to be them.
Police officials say they have recently received calls from residents who were contacted by someone who said they were an employee with the sheriff's office.
"The caller will even use the name of an actual employee of the UCSO," Sgt. Spencer Cannon wrote in a news release. "They will say there is a warrant for your arrest and will tell you a bail amount. Often the name they use may be recognizable, adding credibility to their statement."
Cannon said the bail amount is usually a number that "does not seem outlandish," usually between $300 and $500.
Then, the caller will tell a person that they can help clear the warrant if they give their debit card number, or purchase a cash card and relay that information back to the caller.
But Cannon said these aren't sheriff's office employees — and that is not how the real office does business.
He said the sheriff's office will never call residents and ask for personal information in an effort to collect bail on a warrant or for any other court-related fine.
"We do have employees who will call you to advise you of a warrant," he said. "They will tell you the bail amount and will tell you to contact the Utah County Justice Court to make arrangements to get it cleared or to pay the bill."
A person with a warrant can go to the court in person to pay the fine, Cannon said, or they can call the Utah Valley Dispatch and request a deputy to contact them to collect bail. Payments can also be made on the Utah County Justice Court's website.
Cannon asked those who have been targeted in this scam to contact their local law enforcement agency, adding that these are difficult cases to investigate because callers are often out-of-state and work from temporary offices that frequently move or close down to avoid detection.
"Never be afraid to question them or 'hurt their feelings,' " Cannon said. "Any legitimate official from the Utah County Sheriff's Office will understand this and will allow you to look up the UCSO, or Utah County Justice Court, contact information on your own."
State officials are warning Utahns of scammers who are calling people and telling them to pay fines for missed jury duty.
On Thursday, the Utah State Courts advised of a similar scam involving jury duty fines, and Unified Police warned of the same arrest warrant scam last week.
Court officials said the jury duty scam involves individuals being pressured over the phone to pay cash or gift cards for failing to appear in court for jury duty. But the court generally only files notices by mail, officials say, and residents are then asked to call a court number, which will tell them if they are required to report for jury duty.