CRANBURY: Police alert seniors to scam threat

By Charles W. Kim, Managing Editor
   CRANBURY — Police Chief Ricky Varga is warning senior residents to watch out for scams this week after two residents were recently victimized for more than $7,000.
   According to Chief Varga, the two crimes targeted seniors in the community during the last week.
   The first incident took place on Oct. 9 when a 73-year-old female resident received a phone call at about 10 a.m. from a man claiming to be her son-in-law.
   The man told the elderly woman that he had been arrested in Mexico and needed to raise $5,604.90 to post bail.
   He also told her that the case was under a “gag” order and that she was not to speak about it with anyone, Chief Varga said.
   The woman was told to take the money out of the bank and then wire it to the man via a Walmart MoneyGram, which she did.
   In the second case, an 84-year-old male was contacted on Oct. 16 by a male claiming to be his grandson.
   The male told the older man that he had “gotten in trouble” in Texas and needed to have money wired to him. He also said he didn’t want the older man to contact his “mom and dad.”
   As in the first case, the senior citizen wired $2,500 to the male via a Walmart MoneyGram.
   Chief Varga said he does not know if the two incidents are related, but that it appears both seniors may have had enough information about themselves posted online for the perpetrators to convince them of their fake identities.
   Both of the perpetrators in the incidents were reported to be very convincing, even crying at times to try and distract the older victims from asking for more details.
   Chief Varga is advising seniors not to send money to unknown destinations and to contact other family members to verify the circumstances of such requests.
   If a senior is contacted in this manner, they should contact the police immediately, Chief Varga said.