Another scam is making the rounds in Livingston County.

The Livingston County Sheriff’s Office says scammers are targeting area mental health professionals, claiming to have a warrant for their arrest and demand the victim go buy a gift card or pre-paid money card to avoid arrest. The scammers are identifying themselves as employees of the Sheriff’s Office, using the names of real current employees. One of the scammers manipulated caller ID to make it look like they were actually calling from the Sheriff’s Office main line of 546-2440. The Office says these criminals are possibly using the internet directory “Psychology Today” to find their targeted victims. Anyone who receives such a call is advised to tell them it’s a scam and hang up. Officials again stress that no legitimate government agency will ever request someone buy a gift card or pre-paid credit card to pay fines or fees. Individuals should also never wire money or provide the numbers from a gift card to someone they don’t know.

The Office says if you are in doubt whether or not a call is a scam then you should find the known published number for the agency or business the caller claims to be from, and ask for them through the known agency operator or phone system. If they claim to be with your credit card company, then it's being advised to use the 800 number on the back of your card to call them back. (JM)