OXFORD — A new series of scam phone calls are hitting local residents, according to Police Chief Jonathan Tibbetts.

The calls often begin like classic scams, offering money and cars in exchange for residents’ bank routing numbers and money. When people express doubt, the callers turn threatening.

“They’re very pushy,” Tibbetts said Friday. He said he told a resident to give the scam caller Tibbetts’ own phone number. “I spent 45 minutes hanging up on the guy and arguing with the guy,” he said. “He was threatening me,” and told Tibbetts his life was in danger.

“I laughed at him,” Tibbetts said, but he’s concerned some people might be intimidated by the calls.

Another caller tells people their spouse borrowed money and demands a debit card number, photo ID and the sum supposedly borrowed. “They threatened to come up and do physical harm if they didn’t pay that.”

Tibbetts said the calls have come from numbers in Nevada, California and Jamaica, but said he believed the calls from in the U.S. were being rerouted from Nigeria or Jamaica. He said the callers reportedly have foreign accents and don’t sound like native English speakers.

He said they’re probably calling phone numbers at random from outside the country and don’t pose a physical danger to residents, but anyone who receives the calls can report them to the local police department.

“A lot of times we can address it or have them reroute these calls to us,” he said.

Tibbetts said the scammers can’t be brought to justice because most live in other countries.

According to the nonprofit organization Fraud Aid, if scammers call repeatedly the quickest way to make them stop is blow a loud whistle into the receiver.

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