Riverton police warning residents to be on lookout for scammers hitting their city

RIVERTON — Riverton police are warning people to be on the lookout for a scam that has struck dozens of its residents in the last few weeks.

Investigators said the scammers have called residents and posed as officers. The scammers have told people they owe money on an outstanding fine. And as a result, there is a warrant out for their arrest. If the person doesn’t pay immediately, the police will come to their home and arrest them.

Officers said the scammers are aggressive. Police also said they have received about 30 cases in the last couple of weeks. Police learned about the scams after residents started calling the police station to ask if it was legitimate.

So far officers said no one has lost money that they know of, but they are concerned about how these scammers are operating.

“These scammers have looked up the names of these officers (in our department) and are posing as our officers by name,” said Josh Lee, spokesperson with the Riverton Police Department. “This is very concerning to us as a police department. They will be aggressive, they will say ‘hey you need to pay this, you have a warrant out for your arrest, we are going to come out and arrest you if you don’t make these payments.'”

Lee stressed that’s not how police work.

“Riverton residents need to rest assured that this is not how the Riverton Police Department operates. Officers won’t call and collect payment,” he said.

Riverton police said this is not only happening in its city but in others as well.