Another telephone scam apparently is making the rounds, according to the Michigan State Police.

This most recent scam involving individuals posing as MSP personnel. Reports indicate scammers are calling residents falsely claiming they have missed a court date or have committed some type of violation, the MSP warns in a news release.

The callers use this tactic to create a sense of urgency and panic, attempting to pressure individuals to provide personal information.

MSP wants to make it clear this is a scam. “The MSP will never call individuals to request sensitive personal information or ask for financial payments to be made directly to MSP personnel,” the news release states.”When necessary, MSP will make in-person contact with individuals for official matters, including investigations or other law enforcement-related matters.”

The state of Michigan offers these tips to avoid such imposter scams:

— Never provide unsolicited callers with any personal data or account numbers.

— Government agencies and legitimate organizations with which you do business already have your personal information on file.

— Unless you initiate the call, you will never be asked to provide or verify that data.

— If you get a call from someone who claims to be from a government agency and who asks for personal information, hang up. It’s more than likely a scam.

Tips to avoid telephone scams in general:

— Hang up the phone — you do not need to speak to the caller.

— Don’t give out confidential information about yourself to unsolicited callers.

— Never give out a credit card number over the phone to unsolicited callers.

— Avoid phishing scams. Phishing scams occur when a scam artist pretends to be a reputable organization and requests your personal information via telephone or email. If you are unfamiliar with the company, you should check with the Better Business Bureau to make sure there are no complaints and that you are dealing with a legitimate company.

— Sign up for the Do Not Call Registry at www.donotcall.gov. The National Do Not Call Registry gives you a choice about whether to receive telemarketing calls at home. Most telemarketers should not call your number once it has been on the registry for 31 days. If they do, you can file a complaint at this website.

— If they contacted you unsolicited, then contact them back at a number or email address that you know to be accurate.

Older residents can be particularly targeted. More tips on avoiding scams can be found on the Reinventing Mi Retirement website at https://www.michigan.gov/reinventretirement/protection/recognizing-scams/national-and-local-scams.

Those who think they are a victim of a telephone scam should report it to the Federal Trade Commission at 877-382-4357.