Woodbridge seniors warned about shopping scam
Local seniors solicited to be “mystery” or “secret” shoppers are being scammed out of their money.
The Woodbridge Police Department on Monday warned residents to use extreme caution when replying to and communicating with unknown emails following reports of scams that have surfaced in the township.
Police Director Robert Hubner said Woodbridge police have received reports on two occasions in the past several weeks of local senior citizens receiving emails soliciting them to serve as mystery or secret shoppers to evaluate customer services in area stores. In return, the senior citizens are mailed checks or given money orders to deposit into their personal checking accounts.
The shoppers are then instructed to withdraw a portion of the funds and return some of the money to the original sender through Western Union and keep the balance as payment. The senior citizens later learn that the accounts never existed or the check or money orders were fake.
A 75-year-old Avenel woman received an email on June 2, asking her to become a mystery shopper and visit several area stores in Woodbridge to evaluate their customers service and report back to the sender of the email, according to John Hagerty, township spokesman.
The woman received a check for $1,985 via UPS and was instructed to deposit the check in her account, withdraw $1,575 in cash and send it back to the email sender and keep the $410 balance as her payment.
But because the check was a fake, the woman lost her $1,575, Hagerty said.
Two weeks later, on June 16, a 58-year-old Woodbridge man received an email to be a secret shopper and take money orders and deposit them in his bank as part of an evaluation of Westertn Union’s money-order transactions.
The man received $1,996 in money orders and was instructed to send $1,596 back from his account. The man lost out on the $1,596 withdrawn from his account because the money order was deemed fraudulent, Hagerty said.
Hagerty said police believe the two cases might be related because the amount of money involved was similar.
The scam is under investigation by Woodbridge police and the New Jersey State Police High Tech Crime unit, Hagerty said.
Residents who receive similar emails are advised to disregard them.
“Do no open them and do not respond,” said Hagerty, adding that police also plan to talk to local senior citizens groups about the scam. He did not know if the scam was occurring in other towns.
Anyone in Woodbridge who believes they have fallen victim to a similar scam is asked to contact the Woodbridge Police Department at 732-634-7700.