The Douglas County Sheriff’s office warned residents on Friday about a scam artist posing as a sheriff’s employee who asked a business to wire money to him for a bail bond.

“This has been a popular scam around the country for some time, although not frequently reported in Douglas County,” said Sgt. Steve Lewis, a sheriff’s spokesman. “Sheriff Ken McGovern advises anyone contacted to assist in bailing out a friend or relative to use caution.”

In the recent scam, a manager of a local business received a phone call from the alleged scam artist who said the manager’s employee was arrested on charges of DUI and child endangerment and that it would cost $1,634 to post bond. Lewis said the man asked the manager to withdraw money in cash and wire it to him.

But the manager became suspicious and was able to talk to her employee, who had not been arrested, via text message. Once she started questioning the scam artist, he hung up.

Lewis said there are several court-certified bonding agents in Douglas County and that wiring money to a third party is never part of the process.

“A call or text to the person supposedly under arrest might be helpful as well,” said Lewis, who also advised people to call the jail at 785-830-1000 or check the website, www.dgso.org, to confirm the person is actually in custody before trying to help posting bond.