The Bloomsburg Police Department would like to advise the community of ongoing scams that appear to involve the police department and other county or federal agencies. While the specifics of these scams often change, the basic premise is nearly the same.

Scammers are using spoof apps or ghost-dialers to contact individuals and are representing themselves as the Bloomsburg Police. These calls come up on the caller ID as the Bloomsburg Police with the 570-784-4155 number. The scammers are identifying themselves as an officer, often giving the name of a legitimate Bloomsburg Police officer, and advising individuals of supposed warrants. They often use scare tactics to convince individuals to drive to their bank and withdraw large sums of money. Then they will send the victims to one or more stores in the area that sell Green Dot cards or gift cards. They are often on the phone the entire time, or in constant contact with you during these transactions. They will then have you give them the barcode numbers from the cards, at which point they will take your money with no way of tracing where it went or any ability to get that money back. The victims are often told not to say anything until the “warrant” has been paid.

The Bloomsburg Police will not request money, credit card information, Green Dot Cards, gift cards, etc. over the phone to pay for a warrant. There are no legitimate government agencies that will require you to pay with a gift card or Green Dot card, and they most certainly will not remain on the phone with you while you do this. If you are questioning whether or not the calls are legitimate, you can look up the number to the police department or agency that is claiming to call you (DO NOT get this number from the person calling).  Call that department or agency directly and confirm whether or not they are attempting to contact you.