A scammer is impersonating state police, posing with department number

Massachusetts state police are warning the public to be on guard after “numerous” people reported getting hoax telephone calls Saturday that displayed the phone number for the agency’s South Boston barracks.Once the call was answered, recipients were told to hold for an officer to speak about a complaint or warrant against them, according to police. Once the “officer” was on the line, the person was told to meet the “police” at local shopping centers with money to resolve the matter.In some cases, police said the caller demanded several thousand dollars.State police spokesman Dave Procopio said the department isn’t aware of anyone turning over money related to the hoax calls. In addition to the calls in Boston over the weekend,  Procopio said state police learned on Monday that some residents in western Massachusetts got the same hoax calls, this time showing the number for the Russell barracks. None of the residents answered the calls, he said.  According to Procopio, scams like this happen every few years.“We dealt with something like this a few years ago, where the callback number was a police station,” he said. “People may rest assured that police will never call them to tell them that there is a warrant or complaint against them, and police will never solicit money to resolve a warrant, complaint or any other matter.”Procopio said anyone who gets such a call should immediately hang up and never provide any personal information or money.