Suspect Steals $10K From Lacey Resident Through Scam: Police

LACEY, NJ — An unknown suspect stole $10K from a Lacey resident through a scam, police said. An elderly victim explained he had computer issues, and someone claiming to represent a computer company contacted him.

The incident was reported at about 10 a.m. last Saturday. During the interaction, the victim provided personal information that allowed the suspect to access his bank account.

Lacey police reported several incidents of fraud Thursday in their weekly blotter:

• Four Lacey residents filed similar reports of scams relating to unemployment benefits in the past several weeks. Each victim said an unknown suspect used to personal information to try to apply for unemployment. Each attempt failed.
• In a separate incident, a victim told police Monday that he sent a $500 deposit to Florida to purchase a dog. After the deposit was accepted, the victim forwarded the remaining total of $620. Afterwards, the seller refused to answer any attempts from the victim to get in touch, police said. One day later, the victim returned to headquarters reporting her credit card information was used in Maryland. The fraudulent purchases exceeded $300, police said.

Click here to get Patch email notifications on this or other local news articles or get Patch breaking news alerts sent right to your phone with our app. Download here. Follow Lacey Patch on Facebook. Have a news tip? Email josh.bakan@patch.com.