On 2/18/2025, we had a Harrisville resident come to the police department concerned that a phone call they received from a person claiming to be from the Harrisville Police had him concerned and upset as he was advised he had warrants and would need to pay a fee to avoid being arrested. He advised that they knew his name and address and presented themselves as members of the Harrisville Police Dept.
The call first came in as an unknown or anonymous call and then populated Harrisville Police Department (801) 782-4100 which is the correct number for the main trunk line for the city. The person advised they were told to bring cash and deposit it in a kiosk. There was no specific information about which kiosk and no clear time frame was given.
We advised that neither the Harrisville Police Department nor the city utilize a kiosk in this fashion and that the call was definitely a fraud. We advised that cases like this are very frustrating as criminals can spoof IP addresses, phone numbers, business names and email addresses to get information to you (phone call, text, email) or an attempt to get information from you.
Criminals will ask you to drop off money at a specific location and then contact you and advise that the drop off is not possible as the officer can’t get to the location or whatever excuse to get you to head to a location that will allow you to wire the cash like the Walmart Money Center. They may even request that you get gift cards and then provide the card information over the phone which allows them to access funds on those cards.
Please know that the Harrisville Police Department will never solicit any type of payment regarding fines pertaining to court fees or warrants. It is possible that you could receive a phone call, but it will likely be a letter advising you of the fine or warrant and that you will need to contact the court and arrange to take care of the problem. We will never call or text you with an ultimatum to pay or go to jail; we will always direct you to our court.
Never allow them to transfer your call or offer a number for you to call. Hang up and call the police department or court directly.
The Harrisville Police Department is dispatched through the Weber Area 911 Dispatch Center and non-emergency calls can be made by dialing (801) 395-8221. This number can be utilized by anyone in Weber County as this is the primary non-emergency dispatch number for all cities in Weber County.
This will be the same for many of the surrounding agencies and courts in Weber County. Remember that if it seems odd or fishy, it likely is. Hang up, don’t reply to the text or email and look up the local number for the agency that has been misrepresented in the scam attempt. Replying to a text or an email can take you to fake sites where they will continue to manipulate you in their effort to extort money from you.
Block the number on your phone, report the text or email as a scam or fraud.
We understand that these types of calls are alarming, scary and becoming more common and the recovery of lost money in these cases is very difficult. We urge our residents to contact us regarding any call, text or email that you receive in which money is demanded that you believe to be fraud.
NEVER provide any personal information.
NEVER send any money through a local service or provide them with credit card information or information associated with any type of requested gift card like Pay Pal, Amazon or Apple as we will never ask for alternate forms of payments.