Cape Coral Fire Department warns community about fraudulent T-shirt text scam

CAPE CORAL, Fla. — The Cape Coral Fire Department is alerting the community about a fraudulent text message scam claiming to sell department T-shirts. The scam has even targeted fire department personnel.

Fox 4's Bella Line spoke with a firefighter who says they received the scam text:

Operations Lieutenant Jason Spinner said he received the deceptive text message that has been circulating. The message falsely advertises deals on Cape Coral Fire Department shirts.

"Being that I work for the fire department, and a text comes advertising clothing for the fire department, and we're very well aware that our department specifically does not sell clothes," Spinner said.

Spinner said this is not the first time he has received one of these texts. He emphasized the importance of recognizing warning signs before falling victim to similar scams.

"If you don't know who it came from, you don't understand the context of the message and it has a clickable link, those should be signs that you don't want to click on that link," Spinner said.

According to the department, the only merchandise people can buy is a calendar created through a partnership between the Cape Coral Fire Department Community Foundation and the Cape Coral Animal Shelter.

"It's a crazy world. The scammers are always out and about. They, they feed on us because it works," Spinner said.

Click here for more information on the calendar.

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