Hoboken police are warning city residents about a fake police phone scam.

Police say that the caller claims to be with the Hoboken Police Department and asks the target to call a phone number about a serious matter, including an arrest warrant. But police say that this call is not real and that anyone who gets such a call should hang up and alert police.

"False identifying yourself as a police officer is a third-degree crime in itself, which you're looking at three to five years in prison,” says Detective Capt. Gino Jacobelli. “And the bigger end of this is the extorting of the person to say, ‘Hey, you better pay us this money or you're going to go to jail,’ is a second-degree crime - five to 10 years in prison. Lump the two together and you're looking at 15 years in prison."

Police say that spoofing technology is being used to make the calls seem real. They are investigating.