Massachusetts State Police are warning citizens of a hoax phone call from a number that appears to be that of the Massachusetts State Police Headquarters which recently sought to obtain personal information form a New York City woman.

On their official news blog, mspnews.org, State Police Media Relations posted the following message to inform the public of the fraudulent call to help ensure nobody falls victim to the scam:

A woman living in New York City recently received a phone call asking for her personal information. Her caller ID indicated that the call was coming from the number 508-820-2300. That is a number for Massachusetts State Police General Headquarters.
Obviously, the call was not made by State Police and was an instance of spoofing, in which a hoaxer makes it appear that a call is coming from another location. It is fairly common for hoaxers to use police numbers to give their fraudulent calls an appearance of credibility or to support their malicious intent to get someone’s personal information.
Citizens should be aware that the Massachusetts State Police will never call them seeking information. Nor would any other police department. Anyone receiving such a call should not provide any information and hang up immediately.
Suspicious calls purporting to be from MSP should be reported to our Communications Section at 508-820-2121.
Thank you.

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