Nutley Resident Gets Text With 'Threatening Instructions,' Other Fraud Cases Reported: Police

NUTLEY, NJ — Several cases of fraud have been reported in Nutley so far in December, including an incident involving a text message with some “threatening instructions,” police say.

According to the Nutley Police Department, the suspicious incident took place Dec. 16 on Funston Place. Here’s what happened, authorities said:

“A resident received a text message from an unknown phone number instructing them to send approximately $3.000 and contained threats of bodily harm if the funds were not transmitted. The resident responded to the text message and in return received a phone simultaneously with the same threatening instructions. Recognizing the circumstance was a scam, the resident withheld all personally identifying information and wished to document the incident.”

The detective bureau has been advised of the incident, police said.

According to the NPD, other recent scams and reports of fraud in the township this month have included:

Dec. 1 (Van Winkle Avenue) – “A victim was contacted by a female party who identified herself as Mary Parker. ‘Mary Parker’ stated that someone has the victim IP address and can get into their bank account. Mary Parker then stated the victims should call a provided phone number, to rectify the situation. A male party who identified himself as Daniel Bradley answered and told the victims to transfer money to four different accounts. The victims contacted police and officers responded while ‘Daniel Bradley’ was still on the phone. Officers spoke on the phone and the scammer ended the call.”

Dec. 2 (Franklin Avenue) – “A victim stated there were five fraudulent transactions observed when they reviewed the account. Their respective financial institution added a fraud prevention service as an extra security measure on their account for future transactions only to be used by them and the victim provided the details of the transactions. Officers advised the victim if they need further assistance, to please contact headquarters and the detective bureau was advised of the incident.”

Dec. 3 (River Road) – “A victim was contacted by the head of HR for their employer who was confirming their change of bank information for their direct deposit. The HR representative told the victim that they had received an email containing the victims’ information and the victim confirmed that the email was not legitimate. The victim was offered the opportunity to be entered in as a victim of identity theft. The detective bureau was notified of the incident.”

Dec. 4 (Freeman Place) – “A resident stated they were notified that there was unusual activity on their credit card account. The notification stated a suspect used the credit card in person for a moving company. The victim was notified by their bank that a new card was previously sent via mail, but the victim stated they never received it. The victim was advised of his right to be entered in as an identity theft victim.”

Dec. 5 (South Spring Garden) – “A victim stated they applied for a credit card few weeks ago from a store in the mall but later received a letter from the bank alerting them to potential security concerns and irregular transactions on the account. The bank then suspended and closed the account. The victim provided details to the officers of the fraudulent transactions given to them by their bank. The officers advised the victim to monitor their financial accounts and to report any suspicious activity.”

Dec. 8 (May Place) – “A resident reported that their credit card was intercepted in the mail before delivery. The resident never received the credit card in the mail but subsequently received an email of its activation and immediately froze the account. The detective bureau was notified.”

Dec. 8 (Park Avenue) – “A resident stated they observed multiple unauthorized withdrawals from their bank account. The resident stated that they were supposed to receive a new bank card in the mail but never did. The card has since been cancelled and the detective bureau was notified.”

Dec. 10 (Satterthwaite Avenue) – “A resident reviewed their bank account and observed a large charge they had not made. The resident notified their bank who stated the purchase was made using a new card that was mailed to their residence. The resident stated they never received the new card in the mail and advised the bank to cancel their debit card. The detective bureau was notified of the incident.”

Dec. 12 (Milton Avenue) – “A resident reported that they never received their tax refund in the mail which was to mailed to them in April of this year. The bank contacted the resident stating an unknown party deposited their state income tax refund check and the unknown party signed an unknown name on the check. The resident was advised by their bank to file a police report so their fraud department may investigate this matter. The detective bureau was notified of the incident.”

Dec. 15 (Kingsland Street) – “A victim stated they made a purchase on a social media app for a Dyson hair tool, met at a local business for the exchange, and after the exchange was made, they determined the hair tool to be counterfeit. The victim provided information on the selling party to the detective bureau for further investigation.”

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