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 …
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…
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 …
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…
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…
NY Woman Nearly Scammed 80-Year-Old Hamilton Man Out Of $15K, Police Say NY Woman Nearly Scammed 80-Year-Old Hamilton Man Out Of $15K, Police Say
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…
Detectives Turn Tables On Scammers Who Thought They'd Conned Bergen County Grandma Detectives Turn Tables On Scammers Who Thought They'd Conned Bergen County Grandma
Detectives Turn Tables On Scammers Who Thought They'd Conned Bergen County Grandma GOTCHA! Two gutless 20-year-olds from the Bronx thought they'd conned a Woodcliff Lake woman out of $6,000 with the "grandson in trouble" scam -- only they ended up being the ones who got punked. A caller claiming to be her grandson told the intended victim that he'd been arrested and needed bail money, WCL Police Lt. Chad Malloy said. The caller gave the grandmother the name and number of someone who he said was an attorney. That person would come to her house and collect the $6,000 from her, then bring it to court to secure his release, he told her. Grandma knew better, though. She went …
FACT CHECK: Do Carjackers Put Plastic Bottles In Wheel Wells To Distract Drivers? FACT CHECK: Do Carjackers Put Plastic Bottles In Wheel Wells To Distract Drivers?
Fact Check: Do Carjackers Put Plastic Bottles In Wheel Wells To Distract Drivers? Despite what someone you know might have shared, carjackers aren't going around shoving empty plastic bottles between motorists' tires and wheel wells as a distraction. Next month marks four years since the mythical "warning" emerged out of Africa and worked its way around the globe. The idea, it's said, is you'll hear the sound of the bottle being crushed and get out of your car to investigate. At that point, the carjacker robs you of your ride. The bogus alert begins: "PLEASE READ Police warn: if you find a plastic bottle near your car, you may be in danger." You won't and you're not, a…
Men Wanted In NJ Grandparent Scam After Pretending To Be Jailed Grandkids: Prosecutor Men Wanted In NJ Grandparent Scam After Pretending To Be Jailed Grandkids: Prosecutor
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…
BEWARE: 'Amazon' Phone Scammer Cons Glen Rock Victim Out Of $10,000 BEWARE: 'Amazon' Phone Scammer Cons Glen Rock Victim Out Of $10,000
Beware: 'Amazon' Phone Scammer Cons Glen Rock Victim Out Of $10,000 A Glen Rock resident lost more than $10,000 in an Amazon telephone scam, authorities said. The victim had just made an Amazon purchase when a text arrived from a purported “customer service representative” claiming there’d been a $1,490.97 purchase that the resident didn’t make, Police Chief Dean Ackermann said. The scammer then gave the victim a number to call to dispute the charge, he said. The victim called and was directed to buy gift cards “to fix the security breach,” the chief said. “Over the next five hours the victim purchased over $ 10,000 in gift cards from NIKE, TARGET and E-B…
NJ Man Admits Hatching $400,000 Homeless GoFundMe Scam NJ Man Admits Hatching $400,000 Homeless GoFundMe Scam
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 NYC Crew Conspired To Scam Atlantic City Casinos Out Of $1.12 Million, Authorities Charge
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…