Hope police are warning about a scam continuing in our area.

They report this morning that a resident was lured into a scam after being told that a family member was in jail and needed money to bond out. The victim was instructed to buy several thousand dollars worth of gift cards and then gave the gift card numbers to the scammers.

Police say that no legitimate business or agency will ever ask you to send money via gift card purchases. Hope police recommend that if you receive a call like this, you should immediately hang up and notify authorities. Police also say they can not stress enough the importance of knowing who you are dealing with on the phone and making sure it is a legitimate call.