05/09/2026
Somewhere in a dark room, a nefarious individual sits in front of a phone randomly dialing the phone numbers of unsuspecting people. He or she will tell the person on the other end of the line that they have an unpaid traffic ticket, missed court appearance, or a bench warrant...and if they don't pay RIGHT NOW (often by untraceable means like bitcoin or gift card) they will be arrested!
If this sounds like an unbelievable plot to a story, just know that it unfortunately isn't. This exact scenario is occurring far too often and affects people in our Town and surrounding communities. We have covered this before, but we wanted to issue a reminder of how you can avoid falling victim to this scam.
- Know that the Argyle Police Department (along with every law enforcement agency anywhere) will NEVER call you to demand money over the phone
- Know that no credible court or law enforcement agency will accept payment in the form of bitcoin, Amazon gift cards, Apple gift cards, or other abnormal payment type
- If someone calls you claiming to be from a court or law enforcement agency, politely tell them that you are going to hang up and call the publicly available phone number for that entity
- If a person tells you that you have to make a payment NOW, this is a clue that something may be wrong with the situation.
We want all of you to stay safe from the villainous phone scammers and we're here to help if you need us. You can find additional resources related to fraud and scams in our lobby or by visiting ftc.gov/passiton
