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Chief of Police Dennis P. Moffett and the Mount Laurel Police
Department warn residents to be aware a fraud schemes. Every
day in this country thousands of people are tricked into
schemes designed to part them from their money. These schemes
come to us through the mail, over the phone, and most
recently, over the Internet. Residents should be suspicious
of any moneymaking opportunity that requires you to put out
money up front in order for you to collect a prize or
windfall. There are a variety of schemes in use today but
many seem to follow a similar pattern. The target of the
scheme will receive a notice through the mail, over the phone,
or through the Internet, that there are to be the recipient of
a large sum of cash. This may be portrayed as a lottery
payout, the need for someone to help take control of the
money, or any number of a variety of other forms. The target
is then requested to forward personal information, bank
account numbers, or monies, before they can receive their
prize. The criminals then use this information to take money
from the accounts, create new accounts in the targets name, or
simply take any monies sent to them. There is no prize or
windfall profit for the target.
Recently a Mount Laurel resident received notice that they
were a winner in “The Spanish Lottery”. They were asked to
send a sum of money in thousands of dollars to cover taxes on
their winnings. There actually were no winnings and the
resident has now lost in excess of $8,000 in this scam. Mount
Laurel Police are investigating.
Residents who receive such notices should report them to the
FBI’s Internet Fraud Center. Do not provide any information
over the phone, through the mail, or over the Internet to
persons whose identity that you have not confirmed or have
personal knowledge of. Residents who are victims of this type
of activity should contact your local police department. More
information about Internet Fraud can be found at the Mount
Laurel Police Department Web site at
www.mountlaurelpd.org or by calling the Community Policing
Bureau at 856-234-1414 Ext. 532.
Internet Crime
Complaint Center (IC3)
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