Callers claiming to be Harris County Constable Precinct 4 deputies are phoning Spring-area residents, telling them they have open warrants, and demanding immediate payment to avoid arrest. It's a scam, according to Constable Mark Herman's office.
Herman's office issued a scam alert on X on Thursday, July 30, warning that fraudsters are impersonating his staff and pressuring residents into paying over the phone. The office first flagged the scam on Friday, July 24, and repeated the warning this week as reports continued.
The pitch follows a script: a caller tells the resident they have outstanding warrants and must pay immediately or face jail. Scammers use caller-ID spoofing to make the number look legitimate and, in some cases, provide real badge numbers and the names of actual Precinct 4 sergeants to sound convincing.
One resident described the experience on the Precinct 4 Facebook page: a caller claiming to be a Precinct 4 sergeant gave a badge number and said the resident had missed a court date. When the resident hung up, the caller phoned back repeatedly, threatening a warrant. The resident blocked the number and reported the call directly to Precinct 4.
Herman's office stated on its Facebook page that it will never call residents seeking payment by phone, even if the caller uses the name of real staff.
The scam is not new to north Harris County. At a Thursday, July 23 Woodlands Township Board meeting, Precinct 4 representatives presented a quarterly law enforcement report and warned residents about ongoing phone, text, and email scams in which criminals impersonate law enforcement, according to Hello Woodlands. They reiterated that no legitimate agency will request payment over the phone.
How to protect yourself
If you receive a suspicious call from someone claiming to be with the Constable's office:
- Hang up. Do not provide payment or personal information.
- Call Precinct 4 directly to verify whether the contact was legitimate.
- Report the call through the office's official channels: Facebook.com/Precinct4, Instagram @ConstablePct4, or the C4 NOW mobile app.
