A fake sheriff, a fake Tom Brady email and $3.5M promised — NJ scams are escalating

Scams are happening all the time.

Voicemail, texts and emails. All promising you riches or threatening jail time if you don't pay up.

Phone scams are getting smarter and more believable

Over the weekend, while I was driving back from the Newsmax studio, I got a call from a private number.

Having just left, I thought it was possible that it could have been one of the executives calling to talk about the show that morning, so I picked up the call.

On the line was a man saying he was a detective in the "Massapequa County" Sheriff's office.

Forgetting for a moment that there is no Massapequa County in New York, it's a town in Nassau County, the caller continued in a stern voice.

He said that I was assigned to a jury for a case that involved a law enforcement officer who was killed in the line of duty.

He went on to say the call was to find out why I did not appear. I asked him to tell me who he was again; his response was angry, "As I told you..."

So I hung up.

He called back once; I declined and that was it. I have to say, I was a bit concerned for a minute, thinking maybe my identity was stolen and maybe it was a legit, although mistaken call from law enforcement.

The giveaway was naming a county that doesn't exist, so I know beyond a doubt it was a scam.

Celebrity scams and threats of arrest are everywhere

I talked about this issue on the air and we heard from callers who also had received scam calls.

One caller told the story of his dad getting a call from the "IRS." The caller said he had to send money immediately or face arrest. The guy actually went to a Western Union to send the money while still talking to the scammer on his cell phone.

Thankfully, the employee at Western Union told him to hang up; the IRS would not call and ask you to wire money.

Producer Thomas got a scam letter over the weekend, in Spanish, to his work email saying that it was from former NFL superstar Tom Brady.

Apparently, Tom Brady has $3.5 million to give to him.

Of course, if he clicks the link, either he'll let a virus into our email server, or he'll be scammed into paying up front to release the money.

Don't fall for it.

No one is reaching out to give you a windfall, and Tom Brady is probably not emailing you personally.

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

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