Phony ‘Church Pastor,’ Bank Fraud Among Latest Nutley Scams: Police

NUTLEY, NJ — A wave of fraud hit Nutley last week, including scams that involved a phony church pastor and fraudulent bank and phone accounts, authorities recently reported.

According to the Nutley Police Department, the following incidents were recently reported in the township:

April 6 (Monroe Street) – “A victim of fraud responded to headquarters to document the incident. They stated they received text messages from whom they believed was the pastor of their local church requesting to purchase gift cards to hand out to cancer patients. They stated they had purchased multiple gift cards totaling approximately $2,000. After scratching the codes and providing them to the fraudster they were advised this was a scam.”

April 8 (Bloomfield Avenue) – “A victim of fraud responded to headquarters to report a bank account had been opened in their name. They stated they received notification from the bank that an account had been opened and closed in their name with no funds in the account. The victim advised they contacted the bank to inform them it was not them who opened the account. Officers advised the victim to monitor all their accounts and offered them the opportunity to be entered as an Identity Theft Victim, which they stated they wished to do.”

April 9 (Passaic Avenue) – “A resident responded to headquarters to report a fraudulent incident. They stated they received notification from their credit protection agency that a phone account had been opened in their name and went into collections. They stated they contacted the phone company and informed they that they did not open the account and a fraud claim was initiated. The victim was offered the opportunity to be entered as an Identity Theft Victim, which they stated they wished to do so.”

April 10 – “A victim of fraud responded to headquarters to document the incident. They stated they received notification from their bank about purchases made for electronics that they did not make. They stated they were able to cancel the orders and were not charged. The victim advised they proceeded to receive a credit card in the mail with their address, but a different name and they did not apply for it. They advised their bank of the incidents, canceled their card, and received a new one. The victim was entered as an Identity Theft Victim.”

Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com. Find out how to post announcements or events to your local Patch site.