Narragansett Warns Residents of Town Hall Phone Spoofing Scam

NARRAGANSETT, RI — Narragansett town officials have urged residents to be on the lookout for a town hall phone number spoofing scam.

Town officials said unknown callers are deliberately falsifying their caller identification to make it look like the call is coming from Town Hall. The spoofing is usually done to trick victims into giving away money or personal information.

"The town will never request payment for taxes, fines, traffic tickets or any personal information such as your username and password over the phone," town officials said in a statement. "You will always receive a statement in the mail."

Here are a few tips related to caller ID spoofing and phone scams:

• Don't answer calls from unknown numbers. If you answer such a call, hang up immediately.
• If you answer the phone and the caller - or a recording - asks you to hit a button to stop getting the calls, you should just hang up. Scammers often use this trick to identify potential targets.
• Do not respond to any questions, especially those that can be answered with "Yes" or "No."
• Never give out personal information such as account numbers, Social Security numbers, mother's maiden names, passwords or other identifying information in response to unexpected calls or if you are at all suspicious.
• If you get an inquiry from someone who says they represent a company or a government agency, hang up and call the phone number on your account statement, in the phone book, or on the company's or government agency's website to verify the authenticity of the request. You will usually get a written statement in the mail before you get a phone call from a legitimate source, particularly if the caller is asking for a payment.