Scam alert
Caller Raising Money for Your Police? Call the Department First
Posted
Alabama, North Carolina and North Dakota · obawebsite.com · Arrives by a phone call
The short answer
A caller who says they represent your police department or sheriff's office, or says they are a deputy, and asks for money for a calendar sponsorship, an ad or a donation may have nothing to do with that agency. In October 2026, police in Gulf Shores, Alabama, and sheriff's offices in North Carolina and North Dakota warned of these calls and said they were not asking for money this way. Do not pay or share financial information on the call. Hang up and call the department on a number from its official website.
What is happening
In October 2026, the Gulf Shores Police Department in Alabama warned that businesses were getting calls from people falsely claiming to represent it and offering paid sponsorships or advertising on a calendar, and said it is not conducting any fundraising or advertising campaign of this kind, OBA reported. In North Carolina, the Lenoir County Sheriff's Office said someone was calling residents while posing as one of its deputies who were shot in the line of duty earlier in the month and asking for donations, WCTI reported on October 22. In North Dakota, the Nelson County Sheriff's Office said a man claiming to be a deputy was calling residents for donations and that it will never call for donations, WDAY Radio reported on October 12.
How to recognize it
- A caller says they represent your police department and offers your business a paid sponsorship or an ad on a calendar.
- A caller says they are a deputy, or one of the deputies hurt on duty, and asks for a donation.
- The caller asks for money or financial information over the phone.
What to do instead
- Do not give money or financial information on the call. Hang up.
- Call the police department or sheriff's office yourself, using the number on its official website, and ask whether it is raising money and who is doing it.
- Check any donation request before you give. The Lenoir County Sheriff's Office asked residents to verify donation requests first.
- If you run a business, tell the staff who answer your phones about these calls.
- If you want to tell someone, the rule is: hang up on a police fundraising call, then call the department yourself.
If it already happened
Responding to one of these is common and understandable. These steps are what people usually take next.
- These callers use the name of an agency people trust, so believing them is easy.
- If you paid by card, call your card company on the number on your card and say the charge was a scam.
- Report the call to the police department or sheriff's office the caller named, and at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
Common questions
- Does this mean every police fundraiser is fake?
- No. It means checking with the department itself before you pay. The agencies in these warnings said they were not asking for money by phone, so the calls were a reason to hang up and check.
- A caller wants my business to buy a police calendar ad. How do I check?
- Hang up and call the department yourself, using the number on its official website, and ask whether it is selling ads or sponsorships. Gulf Shores police told businesses that get these calls to hang up immediately.
Practice this safely
Practice turning down a caller who asks for money for a good cause, then checking with the agency yourself.
Every story is fictional. There is no timer, no score, and no real message, payment, or account.
Tell someone
Copy a short note you can paste into a text or email. It names the scam, the next step, and this page. Nothing is sent from this site.
Caller Raising Money for Your Police? Call the Department First A caller who says they represent your police department or sheriff's office, or says they are a deputy, and asks for money for a calendar sponsorship, an ad or a donation may have nothing to do with that agency. In October 2026, police in Gulf Shores, Alabama, and sheriff's offices in North Carolina and North Dakota warned of these calls and said they were not asking for money this way. Do not pay or share financial information on the call. Hang up and call the department on a number from its official website. Read the full alert: https://endscamsproject.com/latest-scams/police-fundraiser-sponsorship-call-scam
Where this comes from
These links open the published sources in a new tab. The destination is shown before you open it.
- OBA: Gulf Shores Police Warn Residents and Businesses About Active Scams (October 24, 2026) (opens in a new tab)
obawebsite.com
- City of Gulf Shores: Scam Alert for Gulf Shores Residents, Businesses (opens in a new tab)
page.alertsense.com
- WCTI: Lenoir County sheriff warns of scam targeting support for injured deputies (October 22, 2026) (opens in a new tab)
wcti12.com
- WDAY Radio: Nelson County Sheriff's Office warns residents of phone scam involving fake deputy (October 12, 2026) (opens in a new tab)
wdayradionow.com
- Report fraud to the Federal Trade Commission (opens in a new tab)
ReportFraud.ftc.gov
The full guide on this
More recent alerts
This alert provides general educational information drawn from the sources above. It cannot determine whether a specific message you received is genuine, investigate an incident, or promise recovery or reimbursement.