HAMILTON, Ohio – If someone calls seeking donations for firefighters of police killed in the line of duty, hang up, Hamilton police said.
Local residents began receiving scam calls Wednesday purportedly raising money for families of deceased first responders for the second time since Patrick Wolterman was killed fighting a Hamilton house fire Dec. 28, detectives said.
Even calls from seemingly local numbers can’t be trusted, according to detectives. The three numbers associated with the calls all have 513 area codes, but they’re created by phone service providers that allow people to have calls appear to be local to the receiver, regardless of where the call is made.
For anyone who wants to donate to Wolterman’s family, an account has been set up at First Financial Bank. Also, there is one authorized GoFundMe page, which is here. Only the GoFundMe organized by Landon Watts is legitimate, police said.
Detectives are following up on the scam calls and working to identify the caller, they said.
