Law enforcement officials this month are warning local residents of a phone scam from a caller who uses a spoofed phone number to try to gain access to personal information.

The Clallam County Sheriff’s Office said last week several concerned residents reported receiving calls from someone identifying themselves as Sgt. Brad Baker with the sheriff’s office and using a number that appears to be from the sheriff’s office on caller ID.

The caller tells the call recipient they have missed jury duty will have a warrant for their arrest.

The Clallam County Sheriff’s Office does not contact citizens regarding Jury Duty nor do we call people to let them know they have a warrant, county officials noted last week.

Sheriff Bill Benedict advises residents receiving the unsolicited phone calls to not give personal information and to hang up. Those who would like to report the call can do so on the Federal Trade Commission’s website at www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/#crnt&panel1-1.

This, county officials note, is one of several scams that circulate each year in which the phone number the scammer calls from is “spoofed” — deliberately false the information transmitted to one’s caller ID display to disguise identity, generally using a local prefix — and one that makes it almost impossible to trace back to the caller.

For more about “spoofing,” see www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/spoofing-and-caller-id.

“Impersonating law enforcement to scam people out of money is an extremely egregious act and against the law,” the sheriff’s office noted in a press release last week.

Washington Courts notes that in such scams, callers typically request immediate payment to avoid issuance of a warrant related to jury duty. Payments range from a few hundred to thousands of dollars. See www.courts.wa.gov/newsinfo/index.cfm?fa=newsinfo.displayContent&theFile=content/scamAlert for more information.