If you're going to pull a phone scam on an unsuspecting victim by pretending to be a firefighter, make sure your victim isn't a deputy chief.
That's what happened recently to Scott Schwartz, deputy chief of the West Haven Fire Department.
"It was probably just a random thing," recalled Schwartz. "The number came up and they decided to try me but it didn't work very well."
The deputy chief received a phone call at his home from someone saying they were collecting money for "firefighters and EMS workers." The request set off some major red flags for Schwartz, who questioned the caller.
"It was actually pretty short-lived," he said of the conversation. "Once I started asking them who they were, they hesitated, mumbled a little bit and then hung up so I don't know if they'd been getting that from people or they just happened to run into the wrong person at the time."