Phone Call Scammers Bilk Two Holiday City Residents Out Of Money

BERKELEY TOWNSHIP, NJ - Don't fall for this. Two Holiday City residents did and they are both out money.

The scenario is getting all to familiar in Ocean County towns. Someone calls up a senior citizen and tells them a relative - usually a grandchild - is in trouble and needs money sent to them immediately.

It happened twice in two days and in both cases, the victims sent the money to the scammers, Police Chief Karin T. DiMichele said,

The first incident occurred on Aug. 7. Patrolman Michael Ptaszenski responded to a Walesa Court address on a fraud report on Aug. 8. The victim told police he received a phone call from someone who identified himself as Sgt. Jonathan Maneli. The man told the victim that his grandson had been arrested in the Dominican Republic on drug charges and was in police custody, the chief said.

The caller told him to go to the nearest Western Union and wire $836 to Cecilia E. Franco for his grandson's bail. The victim was worried and upset for his grandson and immediately wired the money, DiMichele said.

After wiring the money, he attempted unsuccessfully to call his grandson several times. When he reached the boy's mother, he learned that his grandson was not in the Dominican Republic and had not been arrested, she said.

In the second incident, on Aug. 9, Patrolman Daniel Williams responded to a Fort DeFrance Ave. residence on a fraud report. The victim told police she received a call from someone who identified himself as her grandson, DiMichele said.

The male caller told her he was in the Dominican Republic with a friend on a sightseeing tour. The caller said he had been in an accident and was arrested after police found two pounds of heroin in the truck. The tour guide later admitted the heroin was his. The caller pretending to be the woman's grandson asked her to wire him $865 through Western Union so he could bail his friend, Yorleny Beltr, out. He gave her a contact phone number of 809-854-9758, ext. 415 and told her to ask for Sgt. Mirelli. The victim said the caller did not have any foreign accents, the chief said.

But she wired the money. She later spoke with family members and learned that her grandson had never been in the Dominican Republic and hadn't been arrested.

"Anyone receiving these calls should not disclose personally identifying information, should not send money or other forms of payment, and should not follow any other instructions pertaining to transferring personal finances," DiMichele said.

Photo: Patch file photo