It’s an all-too-familiar scam, Paramus Police Chief Kenneth Ehrenberg said.
The Fairview Avenue homeowners told police the first man showed up at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday wearing a construction hard hat and claiming to be from the water company.
“He told them there was a water main break in the area and that he had to check the purity of the water,” Ehrenberg said.
After being let in, the bandit “asked the couple to assist him in the basement, where they were told to turn on all of their basement faucets,” the chief said.
While they were doing that, an accomplice apparently entered the home, went to a second-floor bedroom and took the cash from a strongbox.
The alleged worker then left in either a white pickup truck with a cap or a white SUV, the couple told police.
They described him as dark-skinned, possibly Indian, 30 to 40 years old, about 5-foot-11 and 160 pounds, wearing a short-sleeve, buttoned-down shirt, pants, glasses and the construction hat.
Ehrenberg asked that anyone who might have seen something or have information that could help the investigation call his detectives: (201) 262-3400, ext. 553.
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