(WENY) -- The Chemung County Sheriff's Office is warning residents about a current phone scam in the community.  

The Chemung County Sheriff's Office is urging callers to stay on high alert for someone posing as a representative from the sheriff's office. The caller will tell you that you have an outstanding warrant and to pay for it with e-bay gift cards. While this may seem like a scam immediately to most people, others may fall for it. Sheriff Schrom says they will never call people and ask for any sort of payment to them directly.

“It happens fairly regularly,” William Schrom, Sheriff of Chemung County, said. “We want to continuously remind people that law enforcement will never contact any individual requesting any type of payment because they have a warrant."  

He also says you should never send cash or gift cards to anyone over the phone, even if they claim they are law enforcement, and never give out any personal information.  

“Don't be afraid to delete the message,” Schrom said. “Hang up on them, tell them you've called law enforcement, but don't give them any personal information, and certainly don't buy the cards to send to them because it's a straight-up scam.”  

If you get this type of call, Sheriff Schrom says don't be intimidated, just hang up. If you get any incoming calls from numbers you don't recognize, you can just not pick up. People can also verify a call through the Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigation Division at 607-737-2933.