Scammers Acting As Police Target Lawrence County Residents

HOXIE, Ark. — Authorities in Lawrence County are warning of a scam by people purporting to be law enforcement.

On Nov. 14, a Hoxie officer took a report from a local man about a fraudulent phone call. The man stated he received a call from a person claiming to be Officer Dan Morrison with the Walnut Ridge Police Department. The man said that “Officer Morrison” stated he had two active bench warrants for missing federal jury duty and needed to put $960 on Green Dot cards to resolve the issue.

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The “Officer” told him that he had a gag order in place and could not speak to anyone else about this matter, or he would be subject to an additional $10,000 fine. Once he had the funds loaded on the card, he was to call the number back he was given with the card info. The man also stated that the “officer” knew of a separate account belonging to his wife and that he heard what he believed to be Lawrence County Dispatch in the background with references to Hwy 67 and other locations in the area.

However, the man then grew more suspicious and went to Walnut Ridge PD where he spoke to an officer. The officer verified that it was a scam and that no one worked there by the name of Officer Morrison.

When you have an active warrant we will either show up to your house to pick you up or typically catch you out on a traffic stop. We DO NOT make phone calls notifying you, ask for payments over the phone or any other methods of payments such as loading money on gift cards, prepaid debit cards etc.

– Investigator Jason Bristow, Hoxie Police Department