The San Mateo County Sheriff's Office is alerting the public to a financial scam involving a person who is claiming to be a deputy. The person is using the name of an actual deputy sheriff to extract money from victims.

A person called an intended victim on Jan. 15 in San Carlos and identified himself as the deputy sheriff. He told the victim that he had two outstanding arrest warrants totaling $2,000. The scammer instructed the victim to stay on the phone and to drive to either a local CVS or Walmart and purchase $2,000 in Moneypack vouchers. The scammer told the victim to give him the numbers on the back of the vouchers once he purchased them, the sheriff's office said in a press release on Tuesday.

The victim reported the incident to the sheriff’s office and didn't sustain a loss, the agency said.

"This is not the first time this scam has occurred in San Mateo County. The sheriff’s office, or any other law enforcement agency, will never call someone making a monetary request. If someone representing themselves as a law enforcement officer calls you requesting money over the phone, you should hang up and call your local law enforcement agency," the sheriff's office said.