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$400G GoFundMe Scam: NJ Woman Serving Federal Time Gets 3-Year State Sentence $400G GoFundMe Scam: NJ Woman Serving Federal Time Gets 3-Year State Sentence
$400G GoFundMe Scam: NJ Woman Serving Federal Time Gets 3-Year State Sentence UPDATE: A woman who helped pull a notorious scam that conned 14,000 GoFundMe donors nationwide was nearly 150 miles away when a judge in South Jersey sentenced her to a plea-bargained three years in state prison on Friday, Jan. 6. Katelyn McClure, 32, of Bordentown will be released in July after completing a federal sentence at a low-security prison in Danbury, CT, for scamming well-meaning donors out of $400,000 to purportedly help a homeless veteran. At that point, the year and a day federal sentence will be deducted from her state term and a determination will be made whether she shoul…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Andrew Bucklandon Is NOT Missing: Here's How Social Scammers Get You Andrew Bucklandon Is NOT Missing: Here's How Social Scammers Get You
Andrew Bucklandon Is NOT Missing: Here's How Social Scammers Get You A boy named Andrew Bucklandon hasn't gone missing. He didn't leave for school and not return. He doesn't even exist. For those who've seen -- or, worse, shared -- the Facebook post about a purportedly missing boy the past couple of days, here are a few questions: Does the post include a town? A link? Contact details? It doesn't. Because it's bogus. Like any good phishing scam, the missing boy ploy tugs at the heartstrings and plays on the fears of those who want to help. They're actually helping the scammers find more victims. Phishers threw their latest line into social media waters on…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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GOTCHA! 'Daughter In Trouble' Scammer Gets Punked By Paramus Police GOTCHA! 'Daughter In Trouble' Scammer Gets Punked By Paramus Police
Gotcha! 'Daughter In Trouble' Scammer Gets Punked By Paramus Police A cold-hearted scammer who tried to trick a Paramus woman out of $15,000 got duped herself, authorities said. The resident called borough police after getting a call from someone claiming to be a Hackensack police officer, Paramus Police Chief Kenneth Ehrenberg explained. The purported officer told her that her daughter had been arrested and needed bail money -- 15 large, in fact, the chief said. A courier named "Daisy" was going to pick up the cash to be delivered to her daughter's attorney, the caller said. Paramus Police Officer Nicole Capone spoke with the would-be victim, then …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Armed Man Posing As Prosecutor Demands Nearly $10K Cash From Victim: Morris County Sheriff Armed Man Posing As Prosecutor Demands Nearly $10K Cash From Victim: Morris County Sheriff
Armed Man Posing As Prosecutor Demands Nearly $10K Cash From Victim: Morris County Sheriff Recognize him? The Morris County Sheriff’s Office is attempting to identify a man they say pretended to be a prosecutor, wielded a firearm, and demanded nearly $10,000 cash for “bail money” from a victim in a grandparent’s scam. On Friday, Oct. 21, the man called the victim pretending to be a New York Prosecutor, stating that her grandson was in a car accident with a pregnant woman and needed $9,850 cash for bail money, the Morris County Sheriff’s Office said in a release a week later. The suspect told the victim to meet him at the Morris Plains Municipal Building with the cash. He is then…

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by Valerie Musson
News
Federal Convict Who Hatched $400,000 GoFundMe Scam Gets NJ Prison Time, Too Federal Convict Who Hatched $400,000 GoFundMe Scam Gets NJ Prison Time, Too
Federal Convict Who Hatched $400,000 GoFundMe Scam Gets NJ Prison Time, Too UPDATE: A New Jersey man already serving federal prison time for a GoFundMe scheme that conned 14,000 donors across the country out of $400,000 to purportedly benefit a homeless veteran got a state prison sentence, as well. The plea-bargained five-year term approved by a Superior Court judge in Mount Holly on Friday will run at the same time as the 27-month federal sentence that Mark D'Amico of Trenton received in April. The difference is that there's no parole in the federal prison system, which keeps D'Amico in the medium-security United States Penitentiary in Lewisburg, PA for more than…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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NJ Woman Who Pulled $400,000 GoFundMe Scam With Homeless Vet, Ex-BF Gets Federal Prison Time NJ Woman Who Pulled $400,000 GoFundMe Scam With Homeless Vet, Ex-BF Gets Federal Prison Time
NJ Woman Who Pulled $400,000 GoFundMe Scam With Homeless Vet, Ex-BF Gets Federal Prison Time UPDATE: A New Jersey woman who helped pull a scam that conned 14,000 GoFundMe donors across the country out of $400,000 to purportedly benefit a homeless veteran is headed to federal prison. Katelyn McClure, 32, of Bordentown got a far lighter sentence under the terms of her plea deal with the government than did her former boyfriend, Mark D’Amico, who concocted the cruel scheme. McClure was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Camden on Thursday to a plea-bargained year and a day in a federal penitentiary. D’Amico, the "mastermind," earlier this year got 27 months in a fed pen in exchange …

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by Jerry DeMarco
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NOT TODAY, PAL: Fair Lawn Senior Turns Tables On 'Grandparent Scam' Artists NOT TODAY, PAL: Fair Lawn Senior Turns Tables On 'Grandparent Scam' Artists
NOT Today, PAL: Fair Lawn Senior Turns Tables On 'Grandparent Scam' Artists Not everyone falls for the "grandchild in trouble" scam. A Fair Lawn senior citizen who’d been targeted by scammers quickly figured out what was what and immediately called police. Detective Chris O’Shaughnessy responded to the Barry Place home after someone claiming to be a lawyer called a resident there and asked for $11,000 bail to get the would-be victim's granddaughter out of jail, Sgt. Brian Metzler said. A woman was waiting outside to pick up the money, the caller said. O’Shaughnessy found the woman, 21-year-old Destiny Gonzalez of New York, NY, “whose story would keep changing dur…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
PUNKED! Hapless Scammers Trying To Swindle $25K From Teaneck Man Get Stung By Police Instead PUNKED! Hapless Scammers Trying To Swindle $25K From Teaneck Man Get Stung By Police Instead
Punked! Hapless Scammers Trying To Swindle $25K From Teaneck Man Get Stung By Police Instead A pair of flim-flammers who thought they’d fooled a Teaneck grandfather into forking over $25,500 to get a supposedly drunk-driving family member out of jail found the tables turned when they showed up to collect, authorities said. The “victim” who held an envelope stuffed with the supposed cash as he stood waiting for the two Plainfield teens on a township street was actually a Teaneck police detective clutching worthless paper, they said. Police had been alerted by the would-be victim after he got a call from one of the wanna-be con artists, Police Chief Glenn M. O’Reilly said. Pretendin…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
North Jersey Store Clerk Saves Would-Be Scam Victim Last Minute North Jersey Store Clerk Saves Would-Be Scam Victim Last Minute
North Jersey Store Clerk Saves Would-Be Scam Victim Last Minute A North Jersey store clerk came to the rescue of a distraught 90-year-old woman who was moments away from losing thousands in a scam. The Nutley woman had gotten a call from a girl claiming to be her granddaughter asking for help and to “please don’t tell mom” on Friday, April 29, Police Director Alphonse Petracco and Chief Thomas Strumolo said. A man pretending to be from Sayreville then took over the call and told the woman that her granddaughter had been arrested and that she needed to send money immediately.  The woman withdrew $2,000 and was moments away from wiring the money to …

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by Valerie Musson
Police & Fire
‘Very Alarming:’ Scammer Steals Elderly Woman’s Wallet In Warren County ShopRite Parking Lot ‘Very Alarming:’ Scammer Steals Elderly Woman’s Wallet In Warren County ShopRite Parking Lot
‘Very Alarming:’ Scammer Steals Elderly Woman’s Wallet In Warren County ShopRite Parking Lot Police are investigating after a scammer stole an elderly woman’s wallet in the parking lot of a Warren County ShopRite store. Officers responding to the theft report at the parking lot of Aldi in Pohatcong Township were told by the victim that a Hispanic man had just approached her while she was inside her car outside ShopRite in Greenwich Township on Thursday, April 21. The man, who the victim said spoke limited English, was holding lugnuts and told her that he believed they had come off of her car, police said. As the woman rolled her window down, the man grabbed her wallet and ran. On…

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by Valerie Musson
Police & Fire
'They Got Greedy:’ 2 Nabbed After Scamming Cash From Morris County Man, Going Back For More 'They Got Greedy:’ 2 Nabbed After Scamming Cash From Morris County Man, Going Back For More
'They Got Greedy:’ 2 Nabbed After Scamming Cash From Morris County Man, Going Back For More Two suspects were arrested after "convincingly" scamming money from a Morris County man and trying to go back a second time for additional proceeds, police say. The suspects — whose identities were not released — scammed a Riverdale man out of a “large sum of cash” by “convincingly” telling him that his son was in jail and needed bail money, local police said in a Thursday release. After finding success with the first attempt, the pair went back a second time and tried to scam the victim out of even more cash, police said. “They got greedy and tried to get more money from him a second time…

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by Valerie Musson
Police & Fire
63-Year-Old Hackettstown Woman Loses $7K In Scam Involving Bogus PNC Bank Worker, Police Say 63-Year-Old Hackettstown Woman Loses $7K In Scam Involving Bogus PNC Bank Worker, Police Say
63-Year-Old Hackettstown Woman Loses $7K In Scam Involving Bogus PNC Bank Worker, Police Say Police have issued a warning to local residents after a 63-year-old Hackettstown woman was scammed out of $7,000 by someone posing as a PNC bank worker. The scammer posed as a bank employee and told the victim that her bank account was compromised, police said in a Wednesday release. “According to the victim, the scammer was very persistent and then the scammer allegedly convinced the victim to pay with various gift cards to have her accounts secured,” police said. The victim bought $7,000 worth of Best Buy and Target gift cards, scratched off all of the PIN numbers, and told the informati…

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by Valerie Musson