The Pennsylvania State Police have issued a warning about a phone scam targeting residents in the Poconos. The scam has been reported in Monroe, Pike, Carbon, and Luzerne counties. According to the State Police, scammers are calling residents and either asking for emergency money or threatening jail time. To make their scam more convincing, they are using real family names or the names of actual police officers.
The State Police have advised residents to be cautious and never give money over the phone, leave money in the mailbox for someone to pick up, or pay someone claiming to be the authorities with a gift card. These are all signs of a scam. The public is encouraged to report any suspicious calls to the local Pennsylvania State Police station.
This is not the first time such scams have been reported in the state. Earlier this year, a 79-year-old man from Wayne reported being scammed out of $20,000 in wire transactions at his retirement community in Concord, as reported by the Delaware County Times.