Fire department warns about T-shirt scam

NEW FAIRFIELD — Local officials are warning residents of a text message scam in which the sender is purportedly offering T-shirts for sale to benefit the New Fairfield Volunteer Fire Department.

However, fire officials said the shirts don’t benefit the department and asked residents who receive a link to the shirts not to give out any information or make a purchase.

“These items are not legitimate and there is a possibility that your information may be stolen,” the New Fairfield Company A said in a Facebook post.

The post said the department only asks for donations through email and posts on its official Facebook pages.

The town is the latest target of the scam, which fire officials claim is a statewide issue. In November, Harwinton fire officials warned residents of a similar scam offering T-shirts via text messages. Earlier this month, a volunteer firefighter department in Plymouth also reported a T-shirt scam with similar messaging to the one in New Fairfield, according to The Bristol Press.

State police have said the incidents should be reported to law enforcement or the state Department of Consumer Protection.

New Fairfield Volunteer Fire Department Co. A / Contributed photo A text message offering T-shirts purportedly from a Connecticut volunteer firefighter department. Officials say the texts are a scam and could lead to people’s personal information being stolen.