The latest phone scam warning we've been hearing about comes from Johnson County.

It's a sick one. And dangerous, too.

Claiming a loved one is dead on a text message that is supposedly coming from the Johnson County's Medical Examiner's Office has got to be the lowest of the low.

The Gazette reports the text message claims that a family member has died and contains instructions to click an included link in order to contact the department. Clicking the link would result in malware being downloaded onto the person’s cellphone.

What person in their right mind would stoop to such a sick, cruel prank?

If you get a message like this, here are two things to keep in mind:

1. The Johnson County Medical Examiner's Office would never contact you by text with such horrible news if it were true. So DO NOT click on the message.

2. The culprits will be caught, maybe not right away by local cops. But federal agents do have ways of tracking these things down.

So if you are the one who is doing it you had better stop, and quick. Otherwise you're gonna risk getting hauled into a jail cell and that's no joke.

The Johnson County Medical Examiner's Office said anyone who receives such a message should contact the medical examiner department at 319-339-6197.

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