Northport Police Blotter: Man Loses $2,000 In Instagram Scam

NORTHPORT, NY — Check out some recent police incidents for the Northport Village area from April 18 through April 24.

The Northport Police Department posted the following information. All charges are accusations and do not signify guilt.

Incidents

• A Northport man suffered financial loss because of an Instagram scam. The man reported on April 19 that he was sent an Instagram ad by a friend in regards to investing in cryptocurrency. The ad directed him to use his Zelle account to transfer $2,000 from his JP Morgan Chase Checking account to account holder "Jasmine Hunter." The man said he does not know a "Jasmine Hunter" but submitted the funds anyway. The man was later contacted by his friend who said their Instagram account had been hacked and that the original cryptocurrency ad was a fake. The complainant states he immediately contacted JP Morgan Chase to cancel the transfer but according to the bank, the transaction was already complete. The man said JP Morgan Chase advised him to contact Zelle and attempt to retrieve his funds, which he had done already. The man contacted all his banking institutions to change his passwords and told them that he had recently been scammed. The man has also changed his Yahoo! and Instagram account passwords.
• A woman suffered an injury to her head because of a hawk attack on Main Street on April 20. The woman was walking on Main Street when she was struck by a hawk, causing a small cut. The woman said she will seek further medical attention on her own.
• Police responded to Woodbine Avenue for a report of a woman yelling at a teenager on April 20. The teen told police she was trying to hold a parking spot for a friend in Municipal Parking Lot 2 when she was confronted by a woman in her 40s saying that "you have some set of balls" while driving a black Volvo. The teen said when the woman got out of her car, she started to record her with a cell phone and eventually walked away. Police told the teen to not hold a parking spot in the future.
• A man was acting "belligerent" during a board meeting at Harbour Point Club House on April 20, police said. A man said during a board meeting, a resident became irate when they could not come to an agreement regarding property at his condo that needs to be fixed. The board had asked the man to leave, but he refused. Police told everyone that the issue is a civil matter. Police asked the man to leave, and he did.
• A construction crew at Rite Aid, at 10:30 p.m. on April 20, was warned to keep the demolition noise quiet, or the crew's leader would be issued a summons for noise violation.
• A group of youths on bikes reportedly drove too close to a woman and her dog at Constitution Square on April 22. When the woman said something, the kids responded with rude remarks, she told police. Police spoke with the youths and a parent and told them about the bicycle rules in the park.
• A fire at a Woodside Avenue home was extinguished by the Northport Fire Department on April 22.
• A woman was walking her small dog in Constitution Square on April 22 when another dog bit her dog on its neck. Police told the woman to take her dog to a vet as soon as possible. Both dogs were on leashes, police said.
• A group of youths was caught climbing the Ocean Avenue School rooftop on April 22. Police told them to leave.
• A woman was found lying in the parking lot of Copenhagen Bakery on Woodbine Avenue on April 23. She told police she tripped coming off the sidewalk and suffered leg pain and bruises to her hands. Police helped the woman up.
• A woman called police on April 23 because she thought her neighbor could be choking. Police entered through a window in the garage and found the man, who had fallen and was unable to get up. The man suffered scrapes on his left leg but declined medical attention.
• Summons were issued to the drivers of cars that were parked in a no-parking zone on Beach Avenue on April 23.
• A couple of people were wrestling when they damaged a wooden fence at Napper Tandy's on April 23. Police separated the two, who agreed to leave for the night. An employee told police she'd speak with the manager the next day.
• A driver broke a stop sign from its post when backing out of a parking space on Woodbine Avenue on April 24.