Phone Scammer Warning Issued By Middletown Twp. Police

MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP, PA —The Middletown Police Department is warning residents to be on the alert for phone scammers.

Police said that February is one of the most popular months for scams.

Police said that neighboring departments in Lower Bucks County are reporting a high number of scam calls.

"Everyone is getting hit hard," police said.

Northampton Township had a scam call where someone tried to scam the police department.

Middletown police said they recently received a report from a woman who said she received a call from someone claiming to be “Officer Brian Webb from the Middletown Township Police.”

Police said they have "a Webb and a few Brians, but no Brian Webb."

The woman was told that there was a warrant for her arrest and that she needed to turn herself in the next day, police said.

She contacted her neighbor who is a police sergeant, who confirmed that she had no warrant and that the call was a scam.

The call originated from 215-949-1000, the Bucks County 911 non-emergency number, with the caller ID showing “Township Police,” police said.

That number was likely spoofed by the caller to give the impression that he was calling from a legitimate number, police said.

Police said that if a resident receives any questionable phone call, they should hang up and call the number they know that's associated with that company or organization and not the one provided.

In this case, a spam number appeared on the caller ID. Spam numbers are very common to try and prove legitimacy, and this makes tracking them back to someone extremely difficult.