Menlo Park Man Loses $2,250 in Scam

WOODBRIDGE TOWNSHIP, NJ - A 78-year-old man from Menlo Park Terrace lost $2,250 in a scam last Wednesday from someone pretending to be from Publisher's Clearing House, Woodbridge police said.

The man was contacted on his home phone on Wednesday, March 29 by someone who told him he won $2.5 million from Publisher's Clearing House. All he had to do was mail them a $2,250 check first to an address in Coconut Creek, Florida. The 78-year-old man said he needed to see proof he won first, so the caller then sent him an email with a photo of a $2 million Bank of America check made out to him.

He mailed the check. The next day, Thursday, he got another phone call, saying he had to send another check for $8,000 in order to retrieve the winnings. It was then that the man told his wife and they contacted the police.