It seems every week there’s a new scam, with someone trying to get your personal information — and often it starts with a text message from someone you don’t know.

But what it it’s a message from your local 911 center? Is it legit? That’s what one viewer asked us to check out after he received a text.

We run it down in this Fact Check.

Scott Osborne was in a restaurant parking lot recently in Greece when he says a truck backed into his bumper.

“I don’t know what happened, but I felt a jerk and he kept on going,” Osborne said.

Although there wasn’t any damage to his SUV, he called 911 and a police officer responded. A few hours later, out of the blue, he received a text message from a toll-free number.

“This is the 911 center. Based on your recent call, please take a minute to answer these few questions,” Osborne said.

Brett Davidsen, News10NBC: “When you got that text message, what did you think?”
Scott Osborne: “I thought it was some kind of a scam or something.”

It’s a reasonable concern, given the many different scams circulating these days via text. So, does our local 911 center send out text messages asking people to answer customer service surveys — or is it a scam, as Scott feared?

News10NBC reached out to the City of Rochester, which runs the 911 call center.

“Any customer service agency that doesn’t reach out to its customers to find out how they’re doing, it’s kind of a negative,” said Mike Cerretto, director of emergency communications.

Cerretto says, as part of their accreditation, they sent out surveys for years through the mail to get feedback. But with so many people now using cell phones instead of land lines, they contracted with a company a couple years ago to begin sending the surveys via text.

“The goal is, as we continue to monitor the center moving forward, we’re able to make sure that our training is keeping up with our standards,” Cerretto said.

So, as to whether the 911 surveys are legit — that is TRUE.

Cerretto says if you’re still concerned or unsure, you can call 911 to verify that the survey is from them.

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