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Scam ALERT: NJ Homeowner Loses $27,400 As Home Repair Con Men Prep For Spring
A roof repair scam cost a Glen Rock resident $27,400, prompting the borough police chief to warn citizens against con men who come to the door.
Two visiting scammers who claimed to be from Nassau County, on Long Island, offered to repair a partially damaged section of one victim’s roof for $3,400, Glen Rock Police Chief Dean Ackermann said.
No sooner had they begun their work than they suddenly “discovered” that the damage was “more extensive than originally thought,” the chief said.
They asked for an additional $24,000 and the resident subsequently wired them the money, he said.
The…
Maintenance Man Poses As Complex Owner, Scams Apartment Seekers Out Of $14,000: Garfield PD
A maintenance man at a Garfield garden apartment complex scammed hopeful renters out of $14,000 by posting bogus listings on Facebook, showing them empty units he claimed he owned and then collecting deposits from them, authorities charged.
John K. DelValle, a 48-year-old bodybuilder from Hackensack, made it all appear genuine by having the victims sign worthless rental agreements, police said.
Then he handed them the master keys that he'd been given for work.
DelValle also conned another unwitting victim out of $7,000 -- and a car -- by "selling" him a Tesla that he was renting, Garfield …
Phony $18M Publishers C'House Prize Nearly Convinces NJ Woman, 82, To Give Scammer $10,000
An 82-year-old woman from Wyckoff came within a whisker of losing $10,000 to a scammer who managed to con her out of $500 by claiming that she’d won $18 million and a new luxury vehicle, authorities said.
The caller from an unknown number told the woman that she'd won a Publishers Clearing House grand prize, Police Lt. Joseph Soto said.
However, the caller said she’d have to buy $10,000 worth of gift cards – and then provide the numbers on them – to collect her prizes, Soto said.
The woman bought a $500 card and gave the information to redeem it to the caller, the lieutenant said.
He then…
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 …
NY Woman Nearly Scammed 80-Year-Old Hamilton Man Out Of $15K, Police Say
A New York woman was charged after police say she tried — and almost succeeded — in scamming an 80-year-old Hamilton man out of $15,000.
Mildreth Santamaria-Tirado, 40, of Corona, is accused of trying to fraudulently collect $15,000 from a Hamilton man on Friday, April 15, the Hamilton Police Division said.
The victim received a call from a man claiming to be from the FBI stating that his daughter had been arrested for possessing 100 pounds of marijuana earlier that day, police said.
The man allegedly told the victim that he would have to pay 10 percent of a $200,000 bail to secure his dau…
Men Wanted In NJ Grandparent Scam After Pretending To Be Jailed Grandkids: Prosecutor
A pair of New York men are wanted by authorities for pretending to be New Jersey residents' jailed grandchildren asking for bail money, scamming them out of thousands of dollars, authorities said.
Jorge Peguero-Mendez, 34, and Richard Quinones-Perez, 24, both of the Bronx, New York, are wanted on charges of theft by deception and conspiracy to commit theft by deception, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.
An elderly victim from Barnegat was contacted in December 2021 by an individual claiming to be her grandson, authorities said. The individual informed her that he had b…
NJ Man Admits Hatching $400,000 Homeless GoFundMe Scam
The mastermind of a GoFundMe scheme that conned 14,000 donors across the country out of $400,000 to purportedly benefit a homeless veteran admitted in federal court in New Jersey on Monday that he and his ex-girlfriend pocketed most of the money.
Mark D’Amico, 42, formerly of Bordentown, admitted concocting a bogus feel-good story about the supposed victim coming to the rescue of Katelyn McClure after she ran out of gas on Route 95 on her way home to New Jersey from Philadelphia.
Both McClure and the homeless man, Johnny Bobbitt Jr., were in on the scheme, authorities said.
Together, D’Am…
NYC Crew Conspired To Scam Atlantic City Casinos Out Of $1.12 Million, Authorities Charge
A group of New York City con artists conspired to scam five Atlantic City casinos out of $1,120,000 by exchanging bogus bank checks for gaming chips, authorities said.
The Hard Rock casino rejected a check and the Golden Nugget permitted only incremental amounts, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck said Thursday.
But Caesars, the Borgata and the Ocean Casino Resort all honored $284,000 checks, losing a combined total of $852,000, he said.
The New Jersey State Police Casino Gaming Bureau and the Division of Criminal Justice Specialized Crimes Bureau began investigating soon a…
Scam ALERT: ‘Gypsy’ Thieves Are Back, Con Elderly NJ Couple Out Of $18,000
SEEN IT? “Gypsy” scammers are out again, police warn, pointing to an elderly Glen Rock couple who came thisclose to losing $18,000.
The con artists, also called “travelers,” move around the East Coast using scams and diversions to get into people’s pocketbooks.
This time, a grifting group coincidentally came to the door of a couple who’d called a legitimate roofing company for help, Glen Rock Police Chief Dean Ackermann said.
When the couple asked whether they were their contractors, they said they were.
They then “proceeded to cover the entire roof with some sort of tar or rubberized as…
Englewood Swindler Admits Conning Families Out Of $1.5M In Cosmetics Company Scheme
A former Englewood resident admitted in federal court that he scammed three investors out of $1.5 million with a bogus cosmetics company.
Matthew Benjamin, 53, used the money instead for car and house rental payments, food, international travel, legal fees, technology equipment and summer camp tuition for family members, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said.
Benjamin, currently of New York, told the victims that his purported company, Clear Solutions Group, had lucrative contracts to purchase closeout or excess cosmetic inventory from one company that he planned to sell to another, Carpenito…
