SPRINGFIELD, MO. ? More than 100 people wanted for crimes ranging from passing bad checks to assault have been nabbed in an elaborate police sting that fooled suspects into thinking they were receiving unclaimed money.

Springfield police, under the guise of Jefferson City-based Missouri Settlement Retrieval Corp., sent out 1,200 certified letters to people wanted on outstanding warrants and said they were eligible for “unclaimed money or property to which you may be entitled.”

If they didn’t respond, the letter said, they could forfeit the claims.

Police set up a fake Web site for fictitious Southwest Claims Office Inc. and had employees answer the phones and make appointments.

Those appointments were scheduled for Saturday at a Springfield hotel, where 50 police officers waited. A banner at the hotel read: “Southwest Claims Welcomes ‘People Who Deserve It.”‘

Police Chief Lynn Rowe said the department spent $5,000 on the operation, which he said was a “cost-effective” way to resolve the more than 33,000 outstanding warrants held by city and county law enforcement.

Officers also said they hoped the sting, which resulted in 118 arrests and the resolution of 162 warrants, would spur others to come in and resolve their warrants.

But many of those arrested and their friends and family were angry over the sting. Some said they didn’t know they were wanted and others said they had already planned on using the money police promised them for the holidays.