O'Hara officials warn residents and others about potential scam calls and emails

O’Hara officials want to remind residents to be extra cautious of calls or emails seeking personal information in order to avoid possible scams.

Police Superintendent Jay Davis said his department fields at a few calls a week from residents concerned about people claiming to be from credit card companies, banks or other agencies.

So far, no one has been scammed out of any funds, Davis reported April 18.

“With tax season wrapping up, there’s always the tax scammers out there trying to take your information for tax purpose or send you stuff,” he said. “They’re looking to take money from you. … We want to get information out there to remind people to be cautious.”

An alert was posted on the township’s website encouraging people to take precautions so they don’t end up a victim of fraud or identity theft.

“Any dissemination of personal information should only be done after you independently verify the request by reaching out to the company, such as a bank or credit card company, by calling a number you independently obtained such as the phone number on the back of a credit card,” the alert read.

“Any time you are asked to purchase any type of gift card to make a payment, you are being scammed.”

Anyone who gets suspicious calls can contact township police at 412-782-1403.

About 23.9 million people in the United States were victims of identity theft in 2021, according to a report published in October by the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics.

The report reflects data on people 16 and older who reported such incidents to the National Crime Victimization Survey.

About 59% of identity theft victims had financial losses, with total losses in 2021 reported to be $16.4 billion.