FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WOWO) – The Fort Wayne Police Department is warning residents about a new scam.

A person calls claiming to be a Fort Wayne police officer with a fake badge number. The scammer tells the caller that they have a bench warrant for failure to appear in Federal court and avoidance of civic duty (jury duty) and will use a real judge’s name.

The caller at first calls from 260-281-8450.

If the caller is questioned, they typically hang up and then call back with a spoofed number that will appear as the police department’s non-emergency number, 260-427-1222.

The scammer then requests money to pay for the bench warrants and will offer multiple payment options.

The FWPD reminds residents that an officer will never contact you for money over the phone. If you receive a call from the spoofed number, you should hang up and call the number to verify its credibility.