(NECN: Katelyn Tivnan) - Dudley, Mass. police aren't looking for money, and they say any calls that say otherwise are a scam.
"Calls saying both the fire and police departments are running a fundraiser ... But that's not true," Dudley Police Chief Steve Wojnar says.
Chief Wojnar says the calls started about a month ago, and reports of the scam are also surfacing in nearby towns of Webster and Douglas.
"People have written checks and looking at the status of those. People have also tried to bring them to us," Chief Wojnar says.
"A woman called and asked for Mrs. Flynn and there's three of us and she didn't give me an answer and I said 'No thanks, not interested,'" Dudley resident Nina Flynn says.
Flynn got a call from someone saying they were from the Dudley Fire Department last week, and says hearing it was possibly a scammer makes her uneasy.
"I feel vulnerable that I was actually targeted. It's scary thinking there are people out there that can reach my number and try to scam me," she says.
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"Think it's pretty low, we have enough trouble trying to fund community services as it is without people trying to scam money," Elaina O'Donoghue of Webster says.
The scams also cause problems for departments when they do hold real fundraising events. Programs such as their drug education program, DARE, rely solely on that money.
"So many things going on it does hamper our ability to do these things when they are legit," Chief Wojnar says.
"Hurts the town as well as people that want to give and help public department and all the services they give us as residents," Flynn says.
Police are asking residents with any information including any contact numbers from these scams to contact them.
