Authorities Warn Residents Of Police Donation Phone Scam in Camden County
LINDENWOLD, N.J., (CBS) -- Authorities are advising residents of a fraudulent police donation phone scam in Camden County, New Jersey.
According to Lindenwold Police, an organization identifying itself as the "N.J. Police Foundation" has been fraudulently requesting money donations from local residents. The caller states that he/she is collecting money on behalf of the Lindenwold Police Department, who in return will use the donations to purchase body armor.
Yolanda Pearman from Lindenwold saw the warning about the scam on Lindenwold's Police Facebook page and within an hour she got a call Thursday night.
"It's funny cause soon as he hung up I opened up this page and I looked at my caller ID and I was like it's the same number. It's kind of unfortunate because everybody has a 9 to 5, people go to work. We don't sit at home and try to figure out ways to scam people out of their hard earned money."
Lindenwold Police say their department does not and would not seek donations for body armor. According to police, the number this "Foundation" uses is 856-396-9549.
Police say they will not leave a voice mail message and if you call back the number, they will answer by one of the following greetings; N.J. Police Foundation, Camden County FOP or Camden County Metro FOP.
Captain Michael McCarthy from the Lindenwold Police station also got a call recently from the scammer, "representing themselves as soliciting on behalf of the local police agency and asking for money for body armor which it not something normally local police departments would do."
"These phone scammers are going to try to get as much information as possible: credit card information, banking information, even personal information if they can to potentially steal identities."
If any Lindenwold resident receives one of these phone calls, police advise to please hang up immediately. If you have donated money to this fraudulent organization please contact Lindenwold Police at 856-784-7566 so that a report can be generated.
If anyone from another town has become a victim of the above, please contact your local police department to make a report.
