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Consumer Fraud

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Gravestone Scammer Targets Murder Victim's Vineland Mom: 'Sick To My Stomach' Gravestone Scammer Targets Murder Victim's Vineland Mom: 'Sick To My Stomach'
Gravestone Scammer Targets Murder Victim's Vineland Mom: 'Sick To My Stomach' A mom who fell victim to a New Jersey headstone scammer just after she buried her 31-year-old son last year is sharing her story in hopes of putting a stop to a man she says should've been stopped long ago. Nearly a month after Luz Vasquez's son, Chad Stuart, was killed outside of a Vineland bar in September 2022, she was contacted by Gregory Stefan, Jr., who explained he was the owner of Colonial Memorials, a headstone company.  And he wanted Vasquez as a client. Vasquez set up a meeting with Stefan in her Vineland home on Oct. 21, 2022. "He was a professional man, and seemed sympatheti…

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by Cecilia Levine
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Five Gas Stations Pay NJ More Than $138,000 For Overcharging Customers Five Gas Stations Pay NJ More Than $138,000 For Overcharging Customers
Five Gas Stations Pay NJ More Than $138,000 For Overcharging Customers Five North Jersey gas stations overcharged customers -- including claiming that regular gas was premium -- state authorities said Monday. In a settlement aimed at protecting consumers, Sukhdev Singh and his stations in Newark and Belleville will pay the state more than $138,000 collectively, and promised not to do it again, under an agreement that kept formal charges from being filed, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck said. Bruck identified the stations as: KP Fuel, 864 Mt. Prospect Ave, Newark; BK Fuel, 108 Bloomfield Ave, Newark; Millennium Fuel, 113-119 Franklin Street…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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'Rotten' Apple Pays NJ $3 Million To Settle iPhone Rip-Off Complaint 'Rotten' Apple Pays NJ $3 Million To Settle iPhone Rip-Off Complaint
'Rotten' Apple Pays NJ $3 Million To Settle iPhone Rip-Off Complaint New Jersey is getting more than $3 million from Apple as part of a settlement of charges that it hid and lied about a defect with million of iPhones that made customers buy new ones, authorities announced Wednesday. A multi-state investigation led to a complaint accusing the electronics giant of hiding unexpected power-offs (UPOs), battery health and performance issues, as well as software upgrades that slowed down or “throttled” performance, state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. Apple doesn't admit to any violations of the law under the $113 million settlement reached with 34 state…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
COVID Price Gougers Include Jersey Shore Biz That Marked Up Masks 600%, State Charges COVID Price Gougers Include Jersey Shore Biz That Marked Up Masks 600%, State Charges
COVID Price Gougers Include Jersey Shore Biz That Marked Up Masks 600%, State Charges A dozen COVID price gougers fined by the state include a Jersey Shore business that sold masks at a 600% markup, a Bergen County pharmacy that peddled at-home antibody tests and several other merchants who jacked up prices on bottled water, rice and other essentials, authorities announced Monday.  Performance Supply LLC made “false and misleading statements in advertising N95 mask respirators for sale to personnel from the New York City Office of Citywide Procurement,” New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. The Manalapan-based business “misleadingly suggested the company i…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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NJ Nursing Home That Crammed Bodies Into Morgue Faces Another Lawsuit NJ Nursing Home That Crammed Bodies Into Morgue Faces Another Lawsuit
NJ Nursing Home That Crammed Bodies Into Morgue Faces Another Lawsuit A New Jersey man whose uncle died at the Sussex County nursing home where 17 corpses were found crammed into a small morgue is now suing the owners with claims that they failed to take adequate precautions to protect residents from contracting COVID-19. Brian Roberts filed the class-action suit against Andover Subacute and Rehabilitation Center I and II Tuesday in Superior Court of Sussex County, NJ.com reports. Roberts’ uncle, Albert Roberts, died at the facility from the virus on April 1. The nursing home violated the consumer fraud act and federal nursing home laws, Roberts alleges in th…

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by Valerie Musson
Police & Fire
Western Union Paying $153M In Compensation To Seniors Who Lost Money In Phone Scams Western Union Paying $153M In Compensation To Seniors Who Lost Money In Phone Scams
Western Union Paying $153M In Compensation To Seniors Who Lost Money In Phone Scams Western Union “turned a blind eye” to money transfers made by elderly phone scam victims and is now paying for it to the tune of $153 million to more than 109,000 people in the U.S. and abroad, the Justice Department announced Tuesday. The payment “brings some measure of justice for the elderly and other victims,” Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said. It’s only just a start, though. Before it’s done, Western Union must pony up $586 million, which the government is making available to compensate victims of international consumer …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Feds: North Jersey Moving Companies Raised Prices, Held Items Hostage Feds: North Jersey Moving Companies Raised Prices, Held Items Hostage
Feds: North Jersey Moving Companies Raised Prices, Held Items Hostage The bookkeeper for several North Jersey moving companies was charged in a scheme that defrauded customers out of $2 million over almost five years, federal officials said. Farah Al-Ibrahim, 38 of Essex County, was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud before being released on a $100,000 bond, the U.S. Attorney's Office for New Jersey said. Al-Ibrahim handled companies with offices in Clifton and Moonachie, which quoted customers "low-ball" price estimates for moves then raised them significantly -- sometimes up to 400 percent -- on the day of. Such was done after …

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by Cecilia Levine