{"id":3289,"date":"2026-11-13T19:08:06","date_gmt":"2026-11-13T19:08:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ucnj.org\/sheriff\/?p=3289"},"modified":"2026-11-13T19:08:08","modified_gmt":"2026-11-13T19:08:08","slug":"union-county-sheriff-warns-residents-of-phone-scam-impersonating-sheriffs-officers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ucnj.org\/sheriff\/press-releases\/main\/2026\/11\/13\/union-county-sheriff-warns-residents-of-phone-scam-impersonating-sheriffs-officers\/","title":{"rendered":"Union County Sheriff Warns Residents of Phone Scam Impersonating Sheriff\u2019s Officers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"700\" src=\"https:\/\/ucnj.org\/sheriff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/11\/Scam-Sheriff-700x700.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3290\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ucnj.org\/sheriff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/11\/Scam-Sheriff-700x700.png 700w, https:\/\/ucnj.org\/sheriff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/11\/Scam-Sheriff-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/ucnj.org\/sheriff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/11\/Scam-Sheriff-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/ucnj.org\/sheriff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/11\/Scam-Sheriff-768x768.png 768w, https:\/\/ucnj.org\/sheriff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/11\/Scam-Sheriff-1200x1200.png 1200w, https:\/\/ucnj.org\/sheriff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/11\/Scam-Sheriff.png 1254w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Union County Sheriff Peter Corvelli is warning residents about an ongoing phone scam in which callers impersonate Sheriff\u2019s Officers and demand payment for \u201cservice of process\u201d or \u201cmissed jury duty.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Versions of this scam have circulated for several years. In the latest reports, callers have used the names of current and retired Union County Sheriff\u2019s Officers to make their demands appear legitimate. Residents are urged to remain cautious, even when a caller identifies themselves using the name of an actual officer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Union County Sheriff\u2019s Office will never call a resident and demand payment over the phone for any reason. This includes demands related to service of process or jury duty, as well as requests for payment by gift card, wire transfer, or cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThese callers count on fear and urgency to get people to pay before they stop and think,\u201d said Sheriff Peter Corvelli. \u201cNo one from our office will ever call you and demand money. If you get a call like this, hang up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Residents who receive a suspicious call should take the following steps:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Hang up.<\/strong> Do not stay on the line or argue with the caller, even if they provide the name of a real Sheriff\u2019s Officer.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Protect your information.<\/strong> Do not provide personal or financial information in response to an unsolicited call.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Verify directly.<\/strong> To confirm whether someone is a Union County Sheriff\u2019s Officer, contact the Sheriff\u2019s Office directly at <strong>908-527-4450 during business hours<\/strong>. Do not use a telephone number supplied by the caller or make a payment because the caller insists the matter is urgent.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Report the call.<\/strong> Residents who believe they have been contacted by a scammer should report the incident to their local police department\u2019s non-emergency line.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Sheriff\u2019s Office encourages residents to discuss this scam with friends, family members, and neighbors, particularly older relatives who may be targeted. Sharing this warning can help others recognize a fraudulent call before providing money or personal information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For more information about the Union County Sheriff\u2019s Office or programs, please visit <a href=\"https:\/\/ucnj.org\/sheriff\/\">https:\/\/ucnj.org\/sheriff\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Union County Sheriff Peter Corvelli is warning residents about an ongoing phone scam in which callers impersonate Sheriff\u2019s Officers and demand payment for \u201cservice of process\u201d or \u201cmissed jury duty.\u201d Versions of this scam have circulated for several years. In the latest reports, callers have used the names of current and retired Union County Sheriff\u2019s&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-main"],"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"1970-01-01 00:00:00","action":"","terms":[],"taxonomy":"","browser_timezone_offset":0},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ucnj.org\/sheriff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ucnj.org\/sheriff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ucnj.org\/sheriff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ucnj.org\/sheriff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ucnj.org\/sheriff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ucnj.org\/sheriff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3289\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ucnj.org\/sheriff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ucnj.org\/sheriff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ucnj.org\/sheriff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}