Four Fraud Cases Within A Week In Lacey: Police

LACEY, N.J. — Lacey police reported four cases of fraud within a week, with losses ranging from $400 to nearly $4,000. Here's what happened and what to look out for, according to police.

• A victim reported Wednesday his debit card had two unknown transactions of $1,950 each, totaling $3,900, police said. Bank of America flagged his account and turned it over to their fraud division.
• A man reported March 22 that two weeks before, he received an email from Actionable Intelligence Agency mentioning a "secret shopper." He received a check in the mail for $1,750 and was instructed to purchase three gift cards, police said. He followed their instructions to purchase two cards for $500 and one for $400, and to take photos of them with the security strip scratched off. He also followed instructions to text them to a phone number the agency provided. The check was fraudulent, and the complainant was out $1,400, police said.
• A woman noticed her bank account was short on money. When she checked her online statement, she saw an unknown person identified as "Justin Small" withdrew $500 from her account, police said. She reported the incident to her bank, which immediately closed her account. Lacey police received the fraud report March 24.
• Lacey police took another report of bank fraud March 23. A man reported that unknown person(s) made multiple fraudulent purchases on his debit card totaling $478, police said. He filed a report with TD Bank's fraud division.

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