POINT PLEASANT — An unidentified Point Pleasant woman was scammed out of $1,250 on the morning of Jan. 21 after she received a call from a male impersonating himself as a representative from the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office.
The Ocean County Sheriff’s Office is currently investigating this case, along with many other scams residents are receiving from these impersonators.
On its Facebook page, the Sheriff’s Office stated on Jan. 22, “Earlier yesterday, a woman residing in Point Pleasant received a call from a male impersonating himself as a representative from our agency reporting that money was owed for failing to appear for jury duty. The victim sent $1,250 to the caller. At no time does our agency ever solicit over the phone for any matter.”
The Ocean Star spoke to Ocean County Sheriff Mike Mastronardy, who explained the woman used the mobile money app Zelle to transfer the money to the account the individual was using. Sheriff Mastronardy said in these cases, sometimes the perpetrator will use a regular officer’s name to impersonate. In this case, the perpetrator did not give any name.
The Sheriff’s Office reiterated this point on Jan. 23 on Facebook and said, “We continue to receive complaints from the public about phone calls being placed to them claiming to be law enforcement asking for money involving jury duty — the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office does not solicit any money at all for any matter.”
“He told her if she did not want to get arrested, she would have to Zelle the money over right away,” said Sheriff Mastronardy. “We do not take Zelle payments.”
The sheriff said numerous calls have been reported to the Sheriff’s Office just last week alone, with some perpetrators claiming they are from their office, while others claim they are from the Ocean County Courthouse in Toms River.
“It is amazing how they push this thing out, but they are going by percentage,” said the sheriff, further saying scam callers like this call many people every day.
“We want people to know if they miss jury duty, we are not going to be making phone calls to tell them they owe money,” said Sheriff Mastronardy, giving advice on how to easily identify if a call is a scam, regardless if the phone number looks legitimate or not.
The sheriff also said if any caller asks for gift cards, this is another give-away that this is a scam. He said, “The government does not take gift cards.”
“Be wary of anyone calling you asking for money, asking for information, asking to get into your computer for a minute…stay away from it,” said the sheriff. “We aren’t taking money or calling people if they miss jury duty. If they want to go into your computer, that is a ‘no no.’ Be careful.”
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