AMARILLO, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) — The Amarillo Police Department advised the community to be aware of scam calls in which scammers are posing as law enforcement officials and asking for payment.

APD detailed that the callers are “claiming that the victim has failed to appear for court and that a warrant has been issued” and further asking for a fee to take care of the warrant. APD added that the calls are altered to appear as if they are coming from a law enforcement phone number.

APD reminded the community that law enforcement agencies will never ask for money over the phone in any form, including gift card or Bitcoin, to handle a warrant.

“Scammers can be very convincing at times, if they weren’t they would not stay in business,” APD said.

APD advised that if anyone picks up the phone to a suspected scam call, it’s important to hang up and contact the local law enforcement agency to receive more information.

In addition, APD noted that if someone comes to the home that is unidentifiable, do not answer the door.

“Once we have taken a few seconds to think about it, without the scammer continuing to talk to us, the situation becomes more clear and in most cases we can easily realize that this is a scam,” APD said.