ST. MARTIN PARISH, La. (KLFY) --- If you ever get a call from someone claiming to be the sheriff or asking for money, hang up the phone immediately and call the actual sheriff's office. This is a scam happening across Acadiana with instances reported in St. Martin Parish.

Saint Martin Parish Sheriff Becket Breaux said he is never going to ask for money over the phone.

"No one from this agency is going to ask for money on the telephone," Breaux said.

The scam caller will claim you have an outstanding warrant for your arrest and that the Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking for you. The caller will then tell you to purchase thousands of dollars worth of gift cards, and then instruct you to provide the numbers on the gift cards.

What makes the scam believable is that the caller ID will indicate you are getting a call from the sheriff's office, when that is not the case.

"When that telephone call came through, it was spoofed. In other words, they are able to clone a number and call from that number pretending to be the sheriff's office and pretending to be myself and saying, 'you owe this much money,'" Breaux said.

Authorities said scammers often prey on the elderly and use a forceful tone. This is something Sheriff Breaux said he and his department take personal and will do what they can to bring an end to it.

"When you do that, you're taking money from my grandmother, my mom and dad. That is how the sheriff's office feels. We're passionate about that. We will pursue every scam that we can. If we can put an arrest warrant, find out who they are, we will put them in jail," Breaux said.

"You know, if you find or you owe anything, you know, come to the sheriff's office. We'll send you a registered letter. There's some types of other mechanism we're going to use besides calling you on the phone," he continued.

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