Phone Scammer Poses As Essex County Cop; Police Issue Warning

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — The Essex County Sheriff’s Office put out an advisory on Tuesday about a wave of fake calls being made in their name.

Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura said over the weekend, police became aware that a series of fraudulent calls were going out to local residents. The caller – who identified himself as a member of the Essex County Sheriff’s Office – said that the target missed a court date and that there was a warrant for their arrest.

The caller then demanded payment via cryptocurrency, a bail bondsman or Zelle, and said the target must appear at the Veteran’s Courthouse in Newark on Monday, police stated.

Fontoura said people shouldn’t provide personal information or payment to anyone claiming to be affiliated with the Essex County Sheriff’s Office.

According to Fontoura:

• “Anyone who contacts a resident about a legal issue in Essex County and requests payment electronically is a scam.”
• “Never provide financial or personal information via telephone.”
• “If you never received a summons via mail, ignore the phone call and call the Essex County Sheriff’s Office at 973-621-4111 to report this occurrence.”
• “Be aware even if the caller ID says ‘Essex County Sheriff’s Office’ this does not mean it is from the Essex County Sheriff’s Office as scammers can spoof the caller ID.”

Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com. Find out how to post announcements or events to your local Patch site.