Phone Scam Warning Issued Again By Ocean County Sheriff

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Just hang up the phone. That's the message from Ocean County Sheriff Michael G. Mastronardy in the wake of another spate of telephone scams that have been plaguing Ocean County.

The most recent scam is one trying to convince residents their Social Security number has been compromised. But there also have been scam calls threatening fines and jail time for failing to respond to jury duty.

None of these calls are truthful, the sheriff's office said.

While it is unclear whether the current scam is part of the ongoing series of fraudulent phone schemes over the past two years that have mostly been aimed at senior citizens in Ocean County, they twice have impersonated Mastronardy, the sheriff's office said.

"I want to emphasize that no local, county, state or federal law enforcement officer will ever call you and request gift cards or your personal banking information to satisfy fines or other activities," Mastronardy said. "Furthermore, no one from local, county, state, or federal law enforcement will ever call to threaten anyone with arrest either."

Mastronardy said some of the officers in the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office have been called by the scammers stating that the Social Security Administration has suspended their Social Security number due to fraudulent activity.

Con artists claim to be federal agents and tell the person who answers the phone that they have been the victim of identity theft, specifically saying that their Social Security number has been compromised and was being used for malicious purposes. The "agent" claims their identity has been used to make purchases in their name, and that the person’s savings account was on the verge of being wiped out unless they contacted the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office and spoke to Mastronardy personally to resolve the issue.

One resident who responded to the call was told by the "agent" to withdraw all the money he had in the bank and to transfer it to multiple gift cards that were to be purchased from some area box stores to avoid being arrested for fraudulent use of his Social Security number. The "agent" said he would be issued a new Social Security card the next day with a check for the money he had withdrawn and transferred onto the gift cards. Unfortunately, once the money was gone, so were the con artists, with no check in return.

"The problem is that these scam artists have developed a relatively sophisticated set up where our residents are fooled by the telephone numbers they are seeing and are frightened into paying the scammers," Mastronardy said. "If you are concerned about a phone call, call your local police department to check the accuracy of the information."

You can call the sheriff's office at 732-929-2044 as well.

Remember, legitimate law enforcement agents, the Social Security Administration and reputable companies and government agencies will never ask you to purchase gift cards to pay a fine or pay a bill.

Tips to help avoid scammers:

1. In general, avoid answering calls from numbers you don't recognize.
2. Avoid saying "yes" to any question, as calls may be recorded and the answer can be used as consent for a purchase you didn't request.
3. Never give out Social Security, Medicare or financial account information over the phone.
4. Don't confirm any personal information.
5. Change your voicemail message so it doesn't reveal your name or other personal information. If you want a legitimate caller to know they've reached you, go ahead and put your phone number on the message.
6. Don't return calls that claim to be from the IRS, the Social Security Administration, your bank or a local police or sheriff's department. If you think the message is legitimate, don't return the number left on a voicemail. Instead, look up the legitimate phone number.
7. Don't press any numbers to stop calls. That will likely increase the number of robocalls you get, signaling to the scammers they've reached an active number.

Read more about scams that are continuously targeting residents: Scammers Scare, Extort Millions From Your Aging Parents In NJ

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