Los Alamos police warn of scam calls demanding warrant payments

Los Alamos police warned residents on April 30 that scammers are again calling local households and pretending to be officers from the Los Alamos Police Department or deputies from the Los Alamos Sheriff’s Department. The callers tell people they must pay money immediately to clear an arrest warrant, a high-pressure tactic meant to trigger panic before a victim has time to verify anything.

The warning matches a county notice saying callers falsely claim to be from the sheriff’s department and insist that an outstanding warrant must be paid right away. That is a scam. Legitimate law enforcement agencies and courts do not demand payment by phone to resolve a warrant, and residents are being told to hang up, ignore the pressure and confirm any claim through a trusted official number before sharing anything personal.

The danger is that the calls can sound believable. Police said scammers often use law-enforcement language, spoofed or fake phone numbers and even the real names of local officers or public officials to make the threat seem real. The goal is usually the same: scare the recipient into handing over credit card numbers, banking information or other sensitive data to avoid arrest, jail time or further trouble with the court system.

Los Alamos has seen this playbook before. A similar alert in May 2023 said the scam had shown up in town several times over the previous few years, with callers claiming a warrant was tied to a missed court date or jury duty and demanding payment for a bond tied to contempt of court. In August 2025, police again said they had received numerous reports of fraudulent calls involving outstanding warrants, and warned that criminals were recycling the same tactic with spoofed numbers and familiar local names.

The threat is not limited to Los Alamos. The United States District Court for the District of New Mexico warned in 2025 about court-related scams across the district, including calls that claimed a judge had issued or would issue a warrant because someone failed to respond to a subpoena or appear in court. Federal officials said scammers may ask for personal identifiers, demand immediate payment of fines and even send falsified warrants by email.

Los Alamos County has listed the police department’s contact number as 505-662-8222 for residents who want to verify a suspicious call. The safest response remains the same: do not pay, do not give out personal information and call the agency directly using a number you already trust.