HAMBURG - Tilden Township police are warning area businesses and residents to be on the lookout for a possible telephone scam.
Patrolman Dennis Schwoyer said a man identifying himself as "Officer Edward Smith," speaking with an Asian accent, called a business in the township demanding to speak to an employee claiming that the employee owned him money.
If the employee was not put on the telephone right away, "Officer Smith," who said he was a police officer, said he would come to the business and arrest the employer.
Schwoyer said the telephone number that "Officer Smith" used was 717-610-4301 and also provided 717-610-4371 as a direct contact number.
The officer said that a call to that number was answered by a person with an Asian accent who then transfers the call to another person with an Asian accent.
The second person that got on the telephone hung up when an investigating officer tried to get additional information about the company, Schwoyer said.
In addition, he said a search on the Internet for these telephone numbers received many search hits for warnings of possible telephone scams including one from the Mechanicsburg Borough Police Department.
Schwoyer said that ultimately, the goal of these people is to obtain credit card numbers by means of social engineering so that the credit cards can be used for fraudulent purposes.
Residents are urged not to provide any personal or financial information over the telephone and report any such incident to their local authorities immediately.