Police in LaPorte County are warning citizens of a scam phone call making the rounds passing itself off as a legitimate representative of the Sheriff’s Department.

The caller says the potential victim missed jury duty, and faces criminal action unless they pay a fine. The caller, who can use any name but most frequently identifies himself as “Sergeant Tony Wallace,” says the problems can be averted with an immediate payment by Green Dot card.

LaPorte County Sheriff John Boyd says their office never conducts that sort of business by telephone and never requires payment via a money or gift card and that anything of a true and official nature from the sheriff’s office would be served in document form by a deputy sheriff after it had been approved by a court.

Boyd encourages everyone to always take the time to verify the information when presented with any sort of legal claim in this manner.