Hackers raid bank accounts of NJ charity – scholarships in jeopardy

😡 Scammers raid Bayonne based charity bank accounts

🏫 The charity awards scholarships to high school students

😓 It's named after a father and daughter killed by an impaired driver

Heartless con-artists have raided a New Jersey charity that provides scholarships to Garden State high school students.

The Catch You Later Foundation is named after Tim O'Donnell and his daughter Bridget. Both were killed in 2016 when an impaired driver slammed into the rear of their vehicle as Tim was approaching a toll plaza on the New Jersey Turnpike.

Started by Tim's widow, Pam O'Donnell, the charity has awarded more than $40,000 in scholarships to Bayonne High School students and students at County Prep in Jersey City.

It is our hope that we can educate the public via schools, police academies, and civic organizations about the ramifications of distracted and impaired driving as well as giving out small scholarships annually in memory of Tim and Bridget. - The Catch You Later Foundation

This is around the time of the year when 2023 winners will be selected, and Pam worries that they wont have the money to fulfill the charity's mission.

The looting of the accounts happened when Pam was duped into believing her Facebook account had been hacked. A scammer convinced her he was an IT professional who could help.

She granted the con-man remote access to her computer.

Pam told NJ.com the hacker cleaned out the charity's bank accounts and access her personal accounts in a matter of minutes.

While an investigation is underway, these types of crimes are rarely solved and the money is almost never recovered.

A GoFundMe has been set up to raise at least $2,000 to cover this years scholarship. As of Friday morning, it had raised about $565.

Eric Scott is the senior political director and anchor for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at eric.scott@townsquaremedia.com

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