ROCKINGHAM —One local fire department this weekend warned residents to beware of a new scam.
The Rockingham Fire Department posted to its Facebook page Saturday about an apparent scam purporting that the department was selling T-shirts.
The post reads:
“If you get any kind of information in a text or email about the Rockingham Fire Department selling t-shirts or asking for any kind of donations this is a SCAM!! Please do not respond to the text or email!”
Rockingham Mayor John Hutchinson shared the post and said he had received a similar text. He also shared a screenshot of the text.
The number listed on Hutchinson’s screenshot has a northwest Oregon area code.
The Pine City Fire Department in New York reported a similar scam on its Facebook page on Aug. 6 from a different number, but one of the commenters said they received one from the same number associated with the Rockingham scam.
It’s likely that the alleged scammers are using a trick known as “spoofing.”
“Spoofed calls are when a call appears to be coming from one number, but in reality, is coming from a scammer with a different phone number,” the N.C. Attorney General’s office posted…
