Pay Up Or Be Arrested, Phone Scammer Tells Nutley Resident

NUTLEY, NJ — A Nutley resident recently lost $100 to a phone scammer who said they would be arrested if they didn’t pay up, authorities said.

According to the Nutley Police Department, the victim got a call from a man who introduced himself as “Daniel Smith” of the Internal Revenue Service on Oct. 2.

The caller asked for verification of the victim’s date of birth and social security number, then advised them to call another number. When they called the other number, the victim was told they had a warrant for their arrest by a “Sheriff Bryant” of the Austin Texas Police Department.

The person on the other end of the line said that if the victim didn’t go to the Home Depot in Clifton and purchase two eBay cards for $50 each and call him back with the codes, Nutley police would arrest them immediately, authorities said.

The victim complied with the scammer’s demands. After speaking with their mother, the victim realized the encounter was a scam, police said.

Nutley police attempted to call the phone numbers used by the scammers, but they were out of service, authorities said.

• See related article: Don't Fall For These 3 Scams, Nutley Police Say

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