NJ police share recording of phony call claiming to be from officers

Law enforcement officials in Gloucester Township, New Jersey, are warning local residents to be on alert for phone scams after officers received reports from the community that they were contacted by people claiming to be Gloucester Township Police Officers.

But, officials said, they weren’t. And, now police have shared a recording of one such call.

According to police, starting on Monday, officials in Gloucester Township received several reports of people being contacted by people claiming to be police officials.

Two of the names used, officials said, were “Sergeant Dave Young” and “Sergeant David Johnson.”

In a sample that police shared, a scammer claiming to be an officer used a potential victim’s name and claimed they were investigating a bullying incident and provided a phone number for the target of the scam to call.

Another incident that police detailed involved a scammer calling a resident and claiming they needed to pay bail to the police department by using Bitcoin.

That resident, officials said, realized they were being scammed by a fake police officers.

In investigating these calls, police said that they learned residents of Gloucester Township and surrounding communities have reported receiving similar scam calls.

Now, police are telling residents to be alert of scams.

They posted these tips on social media:

• Gloucester Township Police or any Law Enforcement Agency DOES NOT call on the phone, demanding money – even if your caller ID shows GTPD’s or another agency’s phone number (spoofing).
• ONLY SCAMMERS demand money over the phone, REAL police and federal agents come to your door in person with warrants or to investigate an incident.
• ONLY SCAMMERS demand payment in cryptocurrency (Bitcoin or Ether) by ordering you to go to a Crypto machine at a local store. No legitimate law enforcement agency or business is going to demand you send cryptocurrency, especially if they claim to be from Medicare, Tech Support, Geek Squad, Norton Antivirus, Amazon, any financial institution, the FBI, or your local Police Department.

Also, officials said, officers, detectives and dispatchers with the Gloucester Township Police Department do not call residents during investigations.

If you are unsure if the phone call you received was from a real or fake Gloucester Township Police employee, please feel free to reach out to the Gloucester Township Police Department directly at 856-228-4500, send an email to Police@GTPolice.com or click here.

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