West Caldwell Seeing Rise In Phone Scams, Police Say

WEST CALDWELL, NJ — West Caldwell police are warning local residents to be alert after a recent “increase in attempted scams via telephone.” The scam attempts have a common thread, according to West Caldwell police: they involve fake car crashes and relatives of the victims.

The West Caldwell Police Department issued the following advisory on Monday:

“We have seen an increase in attempted scams via telephone. The latest one involves a suspect (s) calling local residents and claiming that a relative of the call recipient/ victim was the cause of a motor vehicle accident with the suspect's relative. The suspect then claims that the driver of his vehicle has warrants for their arrest, so they do not want the police involved and claim to have the victim's relative held somewhere. The suspect then demands money for repair of the damage and release of the call recipient/ victim's relative.”

According to the WCPD, many of the calls are coming from private or blocked numbers and the suspect usually speaks with an accent. The suspect will usually give a first name and approximate age of the relative they claim to be holding to add fake legitimacy to their claim.

“There is a ton of your information available on the internet,” police reminded residents.

“Do not give these people any personal or financial information and hang up immediately,” police stated. “Then check on the relative they claimed was involved and immediately report the call to our agency (or your local agency) so that it can be documented.”

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