Accused scammers get nabbed by Nutley, NJ police

We often hear about scammers taking advantage of unsuspecting victims, but in one case in Nutley, police say the scammers got caught.

It was the notorious “grandparent scam,” in which someone poses (on the phone) to be a grandchild who’s in trouble. They count on the grandparent not being able to distinguish the tearful voice on the other end of the phone from a real grandchild. Of course, they ask for money.

In the Nutley case, according to TapInto.net, a 62-year-old woman was fooled by a “granddaughter” calling and saying she had been in a car accident and that an attorney would be calling soon. Well, the “attorney” did call and told the woman that if money wasn’t sent for bail, her granddaughter would be thrown in jail, police said. The woman believed him and went and got several thousand dollars from the bank, police said.

The next day she talked to her real granddaughter and found out she had been scammed, so she called the police.

The scammers got greedy, though, and contacted the woman for more money, police said. This time, instead of meeting up with the victim, the suspects met up with Nutley police officers and were arrested. The two men were charged with conspiracy and one of them was charged with theft by deception. The two accused miscreants now have a court date and, hopefully, they’ll get real jail time.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Doyle. Any opinions expressed are Bill Doyle's own.