HARRISBURG, Pa. (Legal Newsline) -- Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane warned Pennsylvanians Wednesday about the most recent version of an old telephone scam that, she says, is resurfacing in the state.
The scam is a robocall claiming to be from the "State Investigations Department," a division of the government that does not actually exist, Kane said.
The call claims that the recipient's name recently came up in a criminal matter and action must be taken quickly to clear the matter up. In some instances, the person is told to call immediately to provide information or an arrest will be made.
One of the recent calls came from the 845 area code out of New York and some of the messages had foreign-sounding accents.
There may be more than one version of the scam with more than one accent, the attorney general noted.
One similar scam involves a robocall claiming to be from the FBI about recent break-ins in the recipient's area. The recording says the recipient can get protection by pushing the number one.
All of the scams are attempts to trick recipients into giving out personal or financial information, Kane said.
The attorney general said Pennsylvania residents must keep their guard up because phone scams come in all "shapes and sizes."