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Love At First Site: Ex-NJ Couple, Nigerian Wingman Charged In $4.5M Cyberfootsies Scam Love At First Site: Ex-NJ Couple, Nigerian Wingman Charged In $4.5M Cyberfootsies Scam
Love At First Site: Ex-NJ Couple, Nigerian Wingman Charged In $4.5M Cyberfootsies Scam A former New Jersey couple and a Nigerian national scammed more than 100 lonely hearts out of $4.5 million in an elaborate online romance scheme, federal authorities charged. Martins Inalegwu, 34, of Philadelphia and Steincy Mathieu, 26, of Brooklyn cooked up the plot with Moses Chukwuebuka Alexander and several of his Nigerian brethren, an indictment returned by a federal grand jury alleges. Together, they trolled online dating and social media sites for willing marks, whom they “wooed with words of love” on the phone and in emails, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. T…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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NJ Army Vet Who Supported Syrian Terrorist Lover Gets 3 Plea-Bargained Years In Federal Prison NJ Army Vet Who Supported Syrian Terrorist Lover Gets 3 Plea-Bargained Years In Federal Prison
NJ Army Vet Who Supported Syrian Terrorist Lover Gets 3 Plea-Bargained Years In Federal Prison A U.S. Army veteran from Sussex County must spend more than three years in federal prison for deliberately concealing money and guidance she gave to a Syrian terrorist she'd fallen in love with. Because there's no parole in the federal prison system, Maria Bell, 55, must serve out just about all of the plea-bargained 36-month sentence approved by a federal judge in Newark on Tuesday, Jan. 24, Bell, of Hopatcong, offered not only money and military intelligence but the benefit of her experience in specialized weapons training to Syria-based factions fighting the Assad regime, a complaint on…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
MATCH DOT CON: It's Back To Prison For NJ Serial Dating Scammer Who Escaped Federal Custody MATCH DOT CON: It's Back To Prison For NJ Serial Dating Scammer Who Escaped Federal Custody
Match DOT CON: It's Back To Prison For NJ Serial Dating Scammer Who Escaped Federal Custody A serial dating scammer from Atlantic City who escaped from custody while serving time for conning women throughout the country must spend another 5½ years in federal prison. Patrick Giblin, 58, had already served several years behind bars -- and was months short of freedom -- when he made a break for it in July 2020, authorities said. Giblin bolted while being transitioned to a halfway house in Newark from a federal prison in Lewisburg, PA, to serve out the rest of his sentence for duping multiple women in an online dating scam, they said. It was the second time that he'd escaped federal …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Convicted NJ Serial Dating Scammer Captured After Fleeing Federal Custody Just Short Of Release Convicted NJ Serial Dating Scammer Captured After Fleeing Federal Custody Just Short Of Release
Convicted NJ Serial Dating Scammer Captured After Fleeing Federal Custody Just Short Of Release A serial dating scammer from Atlantic City who conned women throughout the country has been captured after escaping federal custody last summer, authorities announced Monday. Patrick Giblin, 56, was being transitioned from a federal prison in Lewisburg, PA to serve out the rest of a sentence at a halfway house in Newark when he bolted on July 23, 2020, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Giblin had already served six years for a 2007 wire-fraud scheme when he was sentenced in 2017 to five more years after admitting he duped several women in an online dating scam. He was barely a ye…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
'Teacup' Yorkie Buyers Beware: Victims In NJ, NY Scammed Out Of Thousands 'Teacup' Yorkie Buyers Beware: Victims In NJ, NY Scammed Out Of Thousands
'Teacup' Yorkie Buyers Beware: Victims In NJ, NY Scammed Out Of Thousands There are so many online ads, sites, groups and pages offering Teacup Yorkies for sale that you rarely know whom to trust -- as victims in New Jersey, New York, Florida and elsewhere just painfully found out. Basil A. Mummery, a Canadian businessman who lives in Ontario, collected thousands of dollars each from eager buyers who responded to his ads on a site called tiny-teacups.com, police in Wayne said. Then he shut it down. Wayne detectives who investigated after a township resident got scammed learned of other victims in several states, including Louisiana and South Carolina. “Victims …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
FBI Nabs Ex-Soldier From Sussex County Charged With Supporting Syrian Terrorists FBI Nabs Ex-Soldier From Sussex County Charged With Supporting Syrian Terrorists
FBI Nabs Ex-Soldier From Sussex County Charged With Supporting Syrian Terrorists FBI agents arrested a Sussex County woman Wednesday and charged her with supporting a Syrian terrorist group. Maria Bell, a 53-year-old former U.S. Army solider and member of the National Guard, provided money and advice to “fighters based in Syria who were members of various factions fighting the Assad regime,” U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Bell cited her professional experience in specialized weapons training, offering to provide guidance on operational security issues, weapons purchases and military intelligence, a complaint on file in U.S. District Court in Newark charges. Accord…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Feds: NJ Couple's Online Dating Scam Costs Those Looking For Love $6 Million Feds: NJ Couple's Online Dating Scam Costs Those Looking For Love $6 Million
Feds: NJ Couple's Online Dating Scam Costs Those Looking For Love $6 Million A married South Jersey couple orchestrated an online dating scam that wooed victims out of more than $6 million, federal authorities said. Martins Friday Inalegwu, 31, and his wife, Steincy Mathieu, 24, both of Burlington County’s Maple Shade, employed several accomplices – many of them living in Nigeria – to romance victims online and then take their money, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Craig Carpenito said. After making initial contact through dating and social media sites with phony identities, the thieves struck up what appeared to be romantic relationships with the victims either throug…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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
Police & Fire
$2,650 Cashier’s Check Scam: ‘Job Recipient’ From Glen Rock Avoids Becoming A Victim $2,650 Cashier’s Check Scam: ‘Job Recipient’ From Glen Rock Avoids Becoming A Victim
$2,650 Cashier’s Check Scam: ‘Job Recipient’ From Glen Rock Avoids Becoming A Victim A Glen Rock man who initially thought he’d gotten a job almost got scammed out of $2,650 -- but wisely had the sense to check it out, authorities said. Others haven’t been so fortunate, each losing thousands of dollars to scammers. But he was sharp enough to not become a victim. After an online interview, the purported job candidate was offered employment and sent various documents and a cashier’s check via FedEx, Police Chief Dean Ackermann said Monday. The check was supposed to pay for equipment that the man supposedly needed for the position, the chief said. If he’d cashed the check, t…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
HEADS UP: Paramus Firefighter Whose Truck Was Broken Into Says He Was Followed From Bank HEADS UP: Paramus Firefighter Whose Truck Was Broken Into Says He Was Followed From Bank
Heads UP: Paramus Firefighter Whose Truck Was Broken Into Says He Was Followed From Bank Standing on line at a Western Union in Paramus, a borough volunteer firefighter saw a familiar face: Moments earlier, he’d seen the same man sitting in a suspicious minivan parking outside his bank. Leaving the Stop & Shop on Route 17 after withdrawing money, the 30-year-old firefighter found the passenger-side window of his pickup truck smashed and console compartment open. Gone were reading glasses, a charger and headphones. He was reporting it to a 911 dispatcher when he again saw the same man walking through the parking lot. Spotting the firefighter, the stranger hurried into the …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Hackensack Police: Scammed? Here's How To Get Your Money Back Hackensack Police: Scammed? Here's How To Get Your Money Back
Hackensack Police: Scammed? Here's How To Get Your Money Back The Hackensack Police Department is warning the public of scammers. Anyone who may have lost money to a scammer using Western Union between Jan. 1, 2004 and Jan. 19, 2017 can claim to get their money back following the link below. CLICK HERE The deadline to file a claim is May 31, 2018. Contact the Western Union remission administrator at 1-844-319-2124. 

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by Cecilia Levine