PORTLAND, Ore. -- Multnomah County sheriff's deputies warned the public Monday about a scam targeting people who may believe they're bailing a friend out of jail.

Deputies said the scammer claims to be a jail worker or police officer on the phone and tells victims that a friend or family member is in jail on a driving under the influence charge. They try to persuade the victims to wire them money via a money gram to bail them out.

There have been at least three reports of the jail bail scam in the metro area recently, deputies said.

Typically, the person in question is not in custody, deputies said. Instead, the scam artists hope to make money by tricking family into believing their loved one is in jail.

On Monday, most Portlanders said they likely wouldn't fall for it.

"I would expect the call to come from my friend or relative or whoever claimed to be in trouble, not from the police department," said Jerry Baysinger.

"If someone is saying your friend is in jail, I'll of course try to find out which friend and I would know which friend before someone is calling me," said Jayesh Mittal, who said he'd avoid the scam.

A Multnomah County spokeswoman said jail inmates, police and deputies do not call people and solicit bail money for an inmate.

Deputies also recommend checking the inmate list online. Most county jails keep an updated list of inmates on their Web sites.