A woman who thought she might be in trouble because of improper financial activity was instead being swayed by fraudsters — and when she went to a bank to withdraw cash to send to the fraudsters, police swooped in to save the day.
Police Director Alphonse Petracco and Chief Thomas Strumolo say the woman could have been swindled out of $40,000. Here’s how it all went down.
Strumolo says the Nutley Police Department responded to a local bank Monday, March 28, 2022, after a customer handed a teller a note saying she was being “held hostage — requesting police.” When officers arrived, they discovered the 75-year-old Clifton woman on the phone with a man claiming to be law enforcement investigating fraudulent activity on her account.
The woman was instructed to stay on the call with him while she withdrew $40,000 to transfer into a “secure” account accessible by him.
Nutley officers quickly intercepted the call and severed communications between the woman and the fraudster. Fortunately, she was able to redeposit the funds without any loss.
Strumolo says this is a common scam where the caller portrays a reputable firm or agency acting in the best interest of the victim. They then access money either through wire transfers, gift cards (from Target, Walmart, Apple, Google Play) or sometimes in person.
As a reminder — gift cards may never be used to pay debts, utilities, bail for someone jailed, etc. Ever. The IRS never asks for gift cards to be used to pay taxes….
