GONZALES — Phone scams are rising in Louisiana and lots of people are getting calls posing as law enforcement asking for money. 

In the past few months, both the Ascension Parish and East Baton Rouge Parish sheriff's offices have warned residents of scammers calling residents claiming to be deputies and asking for cash payments. 

APSO said these calls are coming from numbers that look similar to local numbers and demanding money from people over the phone.

A recent scam call scheme sees scammers impersonating APSO's Public Information Officer Donovan Jackson and requesting cash or electronic transfer of cash payments to prevent arrest. 

"First of all, that's not even in my area of work. I'm just the public information officer, so I can't ask you for money to pay for tickets," Jackson said. 

He said these calls will never be truthful. 

"Deputies will never call you and demand money over the phone," Jackson said. 

The sheriff's office said a lot of these phone scams are targeting a certain demographic. 

"We see that a lot of our victims are our senior citizens and it is very unfortunate that that's a group they target the most because they know they're more vulnerable," Jackson said. 

Many Louisiana residents have received text messages claiming they have an "outstanding traffic ticket"  from the Office of Motor Vehicles and must pay a fee or face penalties.

“Those links, people can hack into their phones or get information from you, so encourage people to not click on those links," Jackson said. 

Once that money is gone, it's impossible to get back. 

“Especially if they request the money and you send it via wire transfer or VISA gift card, those are not legitimate forms of payment when you're conducting business," Jackson said. 

If you receive one of these calls saying law enforcement needs you to make a payment over the phone you should report it to officials immediately.