Cop Stops Money Card Scam, Police Warn Residents to Beware Phony Callers

Observation skills and swift thinking by a Morristown police officer kept a local man from being scammed out of $1,500 recently, but authorities are warning residents that just about anyone can fall prey.

On Thursday, Sept. 4, Officer James Krauss was patrolling Morristown when he stopped into the 7-11 store on Morris Street, police said. While there, he noticed a man buying several Green Dot Money-Pak cash cards, and while that was not unordinary, the amount of money being spent on the cards is what drew the officer’s attention.

Police said he noticed the man purchasing $1,500 worth of Money-Paks and asked what it was being used for. Krauss, knowing about an ongoing scam involving the money cards, was told by the 51-year-old customer that someone called his home in Dover and said the resident owed money to Jersey Central Power & Light, police said.

The caller told the victim, who is being unidentified by police, that if payment was not received in 30 minutes, power would be shut off at the building, police said. After discussing the situation with Krauss, the victim did not send the money, and a potential theft was stopped.

JCP&L announced in a statement earlier this year that anyone calling customers representing the company and asking for bill payment by Green Dot Money-Pak is lying and participating in a scam.

Police are asking that anyone who has been contacted by a caller to contact authorities at 973-538-2200.