Fort Worth officials are warning residents about scam callers pretending to be law enforcement.
Like other scammers, these callers are demanding people pay off non-existent warrants, threatening them with arrest. Several departments across North Texas have been giving similar warnings to locals about individuals pretending to be the police, including the Dallas Police Department.
More recently, in November, the Colleyville Police Department warned residents of scam callers pretending to be officers demanding payments in the form of gift cards, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Residents of Fort Worth appear to be the latest target of such scam calls.
The City of Fort Worth issued a scam alert on December 20, warning people of criminals running the same scams as those in Colleyville and Dallas. Officials warned that these scam callers use “aggressive or urgent language” to demand that residents pay off warrants or fines for missed jury duty.
These scammers have been using such tactics to extort citizens, requesting that they pay through gift cards and transfers of cryptocurrency. Some callers even told residents that their loved ones were in danger or could be arrested, urging expedient payment.
Officials advise that the Fort Worth Municipal Court does not take payments over the phone, nor does it enforce a cost for having a jury duty date reset. Moreover, Fort Worth police do not typically arrest individuals who appear at the court with a Class C warrant.
“Fort Worth is a Safe Harbor Court, meaning residents can always visit a Fort Worth Municipal Court location without fear of arrest for outstanding warrants issued by the Fort Worth Municipal Court,” said William Rumuly, director of the Fort Worth Municipal Court, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Those with any payment concerns are advised to contact the municipal court, and those who wish to report a scammer are advised to call the Fort Worth Police Department.
In Dallas, as of December 21, there have been 1,735 reported instances of false pretense swindles and confidence scams, marking a 7.7% increase over the same period last year, according to the City of Dallas crime analytics dashboard.
DPD has been struggling to get crime under control amid an ongoing staffing shortage. While the department currently has only about 3,000 officers in the field, a City analysis suggests a city the size of Dallas needs a force of 4,000. The staffing shortfall is most apparent in Downtown Dallas, which leads Fort Worth’s city center across several crime categories. The latter is reportedly patrolled by a dedicated police unit that works alongside private security guards.
