New Beaufort County scammers are impersonating local firefighters, department warns
A new phone scam in Beaufort County has fraudsters impersonating local firefighters, the Burton Fire District announced Monday morning. The biggest problem is the scammers appear legitimate on your cellphone.
Fire officials from Burton, an unincorporated community in northern Beaufort County, received a report Monday of a resident missing a call with the caller ID “Burton Fire District,” although the department had not called the resident.
“We do not ‘cold call’ citizens, solicit funds, or request personal info,” the department reminded residents in a Facebook post Monday afternoon.
Only one resident has reported the scam so far, but officials wanted to “err on the side of caution,” department spokesperson Capt. Dan Byrne told The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.
Byrne said the resident tried to call the number back but received an error message. It is unknown how the possible scam might operate.
Sheriff’s Office detectives have not yet received any reports resembling this scam. Spokesperson Maj. Angela Viens said three county residents reported being targeted by the common “jury duty” scheme on Monday — wherein scammers ask victims to pay a fine for missing their court-appointed date — but that none of the three lost money to the tactic.
Representatives from the Beaufort Police Department could not immediately be reached for information about the prevalence of the scam.
Anyone who receives a similar call is encouraged to obtain as much information as possible and report the scam to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office non-emergency line at 843-524-2777 or Burton Fire’s headquarters at 843-255-8011.
