Cyber Harassment, Theft By Deception: Princeton Police Blotter

The following is a summary of incidents as reported by Princeton Police:

PRINCETON, NJ — On Feb. 24, at 11:50 p.m., following a motor vehicle stop on Wiggins Street for disregarding a traffic control device, a 41-year-old Princeton resident was found to be operating his vehicle while intoxicated. The man was placed under arrest and taken to police headquarters for processing. He was later released from custody and issued summonses for being an unlicensed driver, driving with a suspended driver’s license, failure to observe a traffic control device, failure to keep right, driving while intoxicated, reckless driving, and having an open container of alcohol in a motor vehicle.

On Feb. 25, at 1:31 p.m., a woman told police that an unknown man identified as "Marshall John Thomas" contacted her via phone approximately two weeks ago. The suspect told the woman that there was a warrant out for her arrest for contempt of court. The woman was advised to withdraw funds from her bank account and deposit it via "Coinflip" (a digital currency platform Bitcoin ATM) and purchase gift cards in order to avoid being arrested. The woman later withdrew money from her bank account but was unsuccessful in depositing it. The woman attempted to withdraw additional funds, but her bank account was flagged because someone attempted to gain access to it. The resident did not suffer any monetary loss as a result of the incident.

On Feb. 27, the Detective Bureau investigated an incident of cyber harassment, commonly referred to as a “Zoom Bombing” that occurred during a Princeton Environmental Commission meeting. Three unknown people posted alarming and pornographic content during the Zoom meeting. The Detective Bureau is following up on the incident.

On Feb. 28, an unknown suspect(s) forged and deposited six checks, totaling $14,500 from an operations account belonging to an organization located on Mount Lucas Road. It is unknown if the organization suffered any monetary loss as they were coordinating with their banking institution regarding the fraudulent activity.

On March 2, 12:10 p.m., police responded to a home on Prospect Avenue and investigated a theft. The resident reported that her wristlet wallet and assorted keys were stolen from the home on Feb. 27 sometime between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. There are no suspects at this time.

On March 4, at 2:06 p.m., a resident told police that an unknown actor(s) used her e-mail address to deceive her client into sending a sum of $5,600. The person was instructed to send the money to an unknown Zelle account and as a result, suffered a monetary loss of $5,600. There are no suspects at this time.

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