Phone Scammer Pretends To Collect Funds For West Caldwell Firefighters
WEST CALDWELL, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- A volunteer fire department in New Jersey wants you to be aware of a phone scam that could affect your wallet.
"It's disgusting," John Hamilton told CBS2's Marc Liverman.
He was referring to a strange call he got. The caller mentioned what sounded like the West Caldwell Firefighter Association.
"I said what organization are you with? He kept on avoiding it. He wouldn't answer or give me any info on what he was really, really looking for," he said.
Finally Hamilton asked the stranger if he was with the West Caldwell Volunteer Fire Department or not.
The caller hung up.
Similar types of calls have been reported in West Caldwell for months.
The caller pretends to be someone taking donations on behalf of the local fire department. A department made up entirely of volunteers.
Megan Stout, the association's president, said enough is enough.
"The fact that somebody could be taking advantage of that is horrendous," she said.
Stout said the calls have been going on since the fall and have really started ramping up towards the end of 2017, and the beginning of 2018. They know of close to 12 calls reported so far.
Last week, the department put out a message on its Facebook page saying in part that the West Caldwell Fire Department never solicits donations by phone.
"We've been trying to publicize as best we could on our social media to say, 'hey, we only solicit once a year in the springtime via regular mail," Stout said.
It's unclear if the scammers have gotten away with any money. CBS2 reached out to police to find out if they have any leads, but so far haven't heard back. Stout thinks there's more than one scammer involved.
"Now it seems like a coordinated effort. There's more towns involved. More calls, so someone is definitely running a somewhat sophisticated group here," she said.
Stout said the money they usually raise is just enough to support these volunteers, and they are down about ten percent in donations so far this year. It's unclear though if that's because of the scam.
The money the volunteers raise goes towards food for the firefighters, clothing, and community outreach.
