FISHERS, Ind. — Police in Fishers are warning of phone scams after a few residents were “taken advantage of” and lost thousands of dollars.

The Fishers Police Department said it has responded to several types of phone scams over the past few weeks. One of the most recent involved the scammer accusing the victim of having an outstanding arrest warrant and demanding they send gift cards to clear their name, FPD noted.

Police explained that many scammers instruct the victim to stay on the phone, not tell anyone of the conversation and travel to a store to purchase gift cards or green dot cards for a certain amount.

FPD released safety tips to follow if contacted by a possible phone scammer:

• Immediately hang up the phone if you do not recognize or know the caller
• Never give out personal information
  • If you feel the call might be legitimate, you can ask the person to mail you info
• Never provide gift card numbers to anyone over the telephone
• No legitimate company or organization requires payment via gift cards or green dot cards
• No law enforcement agency threatens to arrest people over the phone
• If something does not sound or feel right, hang up the phone
• You are welcome to contact your local law enforcement agency, however, most of these telephone scams originate from overseas and are very difficult if not impossible to trace.