By GRAHAM BROOKS / Staff Writer

HELENA–The Helena Police Department has sent out notices through social media warning Helena residents of a current phone scam, where an individual is identifying himself with HPD in an attempt to steal money from residents.

“We were informed today by a resident of a phone scam using the Helena Police Department to attempt to bilk money out of unsuspecting residents,” read a Facebook post from HPD.

The post went on to say that the resident said she received a call from a male identifying himself as “Officer Flemming” with HPD’s Fraud Department. The caller ID showed HPD’s actual phone number. He informed the resident that they had warrants for her arrest and if she called an “Officer Jones” at another number with a 716 area code, that she could pay the fine over the phone and the warrant would be taken care of.

The Helena Police Department made it clear that they do not call individuals with outstanding warrants and do not allow anyone to pay any fines over the phone. All warrants are taken care of in person through the judicial process and cannot be handled over the phone.

The post ended by stating, “if you receive one of these calls, hang up. Do not give them any information and immediately notify HPD. The HPD will be conducting a full investigation into this and want to alert our residents to this latest scam. If you have any questions or want to notify us of a call you received, call 663-6499.”