Police: Don't Send Money to Solicitors Using Phone, Email or Mail

Chances are, if it sounds too good to be true, it's probably not true.

That's the warning from Chief Michael Mastronardy, who said township residents are reporting scam phone calls, with the caller claiming the victim has won a large cash prize.

Toms River isn't the only town experiencing this, as Point Pleasant Borough and Point Pleasant Beach also issued similar warnings to residents.

$11,200 Taken from Toms River Senior

A 71 year-old Toms River woman became a vicitm of a fraud when she was contacted by phone that she won $500,000, Mastronardy said. The caller urged the victim to pay the taxes on the prize before it could be issued.

"She was then instructed she first had to pay taxes, and that she would have to keep the winnings secret until she received her money," said the police chief.  

After receiving a confirmation number she called the claims department and over the last week she sent $2,500 to the Philipines, $5,500 to Hong Kong and on Monday sent an additional $3,200 to Hong Kong. The phone number was eventually disconnected, said Mastronardy.

Toms River Police Officer Michael Cassidy and Detective John Bajic are investigating the $11,200 loss.

Recent Warning in Point Beach, Point Pleasant

Point Beach and Point Borough police are urging area residents not to send any money in response to any solicitations using phone calls, email or mail.

There has been a recent rash of scammers using the phone, email, mail and, in one case, even a fax, to tell Point Beach residents they have won money, but also have to send money to the solicitors, said Detective Patrick Petruzziello.

Sometimes the scammers tell the residents they have won a lottery or prizes, but have to mail out a processing or other type of fee, sometimes to an overseas address, Petruzziello said.

"If someone says you won something, but you have to send something in return, don't send it," he said.

Many of the scammers are asking people to send money via Western Union, he added.

"If they say to use Western Union, that's a red flag," he said.

Police are urging residents to not send any money to any solicitors and to report the incident to police, who are tracking patterns.

Point Borough has not seen a recent increase in these types of scams, but has recently had a few such incidents, said Captain Richard Larsen.