Multiple volunteer fire departments in Butler County are warning residents not to fall for a phishing scam that is making the rounds.

Some residents have received unsolicited text messages promoting the sale of “limited-edition” T-shirts to raise money for local fire departments. Local departments have reached out to the public through social media to let them know that the supposed T-shirt sales are not legitimate.

Fire departments in Adams and Connoquenessing townships and Bruin and Emlenton boroughs have reported being targeted and impersonated, and neighboring fire departments are warning the public to stay vigilant.

“While we have not been notified of anyone getting any texts yet, we want to remind everyone we do not sell T-shirts or solicit any funding via text messaging,” reads a post on the Saxonburg Volunteer Fire Department’s Facebook page.

Multiple volunteer fire departments in Butler County are warning residents not to fall for a phishing scam that is making the rounds.

Some residents have received unsolicited text messages promoting the sale of “limited-edition” T-shirts to raise money for local fire departments. Local departments have reached out to the public through social media to let them know that the supposed T-shirt sales are not legitimate.

Fire departments in Adams and Connoquenessing townships and Bruin and Emlenton boroughs have reported being targeted and impersonated, and neighboring fire departments are warning the public to stay vigilant.

“While we have not been notified of anyone getting any texts yet, we want to remind everyone we do not sell T-shirts or solicit any funding via text messaging,” reads a post on the Saxonburg Volunteer Fire Department’s Facebook page.

Lou Zimmerman, chief of Connoquenessing Volunteer Fire Department, said he caught wind of the scam last week.

“We were notified that some people got text messages saying we were selling T-shirts,” Zimmerman said.

This type of scam is not new. David Blair, president of the Bruin Volunteer Fire Department, said this has been happening across the country for months.

“We follow a bunch of other fire departments. All over the country it’s been hitting them … I’d say a good six months to a year,” Blair said. “It’s not something small.”

Multiple fire departments have shared screenshots of the texts, which contain links to a storefront called Amegreat. While the homepage for the store promotes indoor furnishings which supposedly are for sale, nearly the entire inventory of the store consists of listings for a generic T-shirt with the words, “Stand for the flag, kneel for the fallen” along with a picture of a kneeling firefighter.

The same shirt is available for multiple fire departments, and the only difference between each shirt is the shield being placed next to the firefighter’s head.

According to Zimmerman, while his department does solicit donations through its website or the Postal Service, the department does not sell T-shirts and will not make calls or texts from an 800 number. Zimmerman has reported the texts to the Federal Trade Commission, and since then, inquiries about nonexistent T-shirts have stopped.

“That's all you can do, warn as many people as you can,” Zimmerman said. “We haven't gotten any reports since it happened last Thursday.”

The Bruin Fire Department does sell T-shirts, but only at one physical store in Chicora and not online. A portion of the proceeds from these sales goes directly toward the fire department.

One of the phone numbers captured in a screenshot was traced to an anonymous Voice over Internet Protocol number with an area code for Vermont.