An employee at a Hackettstown McDonald's was duped Wednesday into taking over $1,000 from the fast food restaurant's safe as part of a scam, police said.

Police were called to the restaurant, located on Route 182, at 7:32 a.m. and discovered that an hour earlier an employee received a call from a man stating he was from McDonald's corporate, according to a release from the Hackettstown Police.

The man told the employee, whose name was not released, to take money from the safe and use it to purchase gift cards so "corporate could deposit the money to help save jobs."

The man then had a taxi pick up the employee and drive him to a store where bought $1,200 in gift cards, police said.

The worker then relayed the gift card information to the scammer and returned to the restaurant, the release stated.

The incident is being investigated by the Hackettstown Police and the Warren County Prosecutor's Office.

People asked anyone to "be very cautious of any caller demanding money or payment immediately."

Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrisrsheldon Find NJ.com on Facebook.