BARNEGAT — Thanks to the quick actions of police, an elaborate scam was averted in one Ocean County township that otherwise would have meant a major financial loss for someone.
On Sunday, Nov. 2, a Barnegat resident called police to say they had been scammed out of $95,000, according to the department’s Facebook page.
The resident explained that on Thursday, Oct. 30, he received a pop-up message on his computer claiming the device was infected with malware and urged him to call a phone number.
Unfortunately, the resident fell for the scam and called the number, which led the bad actor to gain remote access to the victim’s computer and convince him that money had been mistakenly deposited into his bank account.
The scammer instructed the resident to purchase a cashier’s check and send it through UPS to an address in Queens, New York.
The victim didn’t realize it was a scam until a few days later. That’s when he contacted the police.
Barnegat Patrolman Boyle and Detective Armstrong worked with a U.S. Postal Inspector and a UPS Area Security Manager, and within a few hours, they were able to locate the check at a UPS facility in Queens, recover it, and return it to the resident.
Barnegat police are reminding everyone not to send large sums of money to anyone you don’t know or trust. Never pay bills or debts through bitcoin or gift cards, and if something feels suspicious or you think you’ve been scammed, call the police.
