Another lottery scam
For the second time this month, a local resident was scammed out of thousands of dollars in savings by people purporting to have a winning lottery ticket that they needed help in cashing. Police have not made any arrests, but are investigating the incidents.
At 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 22, a female victim walking near Hoboken University Medical Center was approached by a tan-skinned, black-haired female roughly 35 years old, wearing a pearl necklace.
The woman said she was an immigrant who could not cash five winning lottery tickets worth $265,000. Just then, a man pulled up in a dark blue Toyota offering his help as well.
The victim entered the vehicle with the woman involved in the scam and was told that in order to cash the winning tickets, the woman needed $7,000 from both the victim and the man driving the car.
When a nearly identical scam was pulled earlier in April, the scammer told the victim the cash was needed to make a deposit on the lottery reward; the police report did not detail the reason for the cash request in this case.
The victim and man driving the car agreed to “help” the supposed immigrant, and the man drove the victim to her bank on Washington Street, where she withdrew $7,000 from her account.
When the victim left the bank, she found the two other individuals sitting in a different car, an older model white Mitsubishi.
The victim entered the other car and was told by the man to put her cash into an envelope, which she did. The man pretended to put his own money in the envelope, according to the police report, and handed the envelope to the woman running the scam.
The woman handed the envelope to the victim and asked her to hold the money, although the envelopes had been switched, according to the victim. Unaware of this at the time, the victim put the envelope in her purse.
The woman then asked the victim to go into the store to buy her tampons.
The victim agreed, but when she returned, the two individuals had left with her cell phone and $7,000 cash.
Man mugged at Fifth and Adams
A man was assaulted with a pipe and robbed near Fifth and Adams streets on Sunday, April 18, but police have not found the perpetrators.
Police say the male victim was smoking a cigarette on the street around 6:30 p.m. and waiting for a friend to come out of a convenience store when he was approached by three black males who surrounded him, according to the police report.
The men asked him if he had any money and if he wanted to buy any drugs, the victim told police, and as soon as he said “no,” he was hit in the back of the head with what was reported to be a pipe. The victim said he was also then hit in the head with a glass Snapple bottle.
The victim was knocked to the ground and kicked and punched before the men took his wallet and fled the scene.
The victim had a deep laceration on the back of his head from the pipe, a lump on his head from the bottle, and other bruising, police said. He was transported to Hoboken University Medical Center.
Police did not immediately have any suspects, but are investigating the incident.
Car burglaries in private garages
Two cars were burglarized in private parking garages near Tenth and Clinton streets in the last two weeks, although in both cases the owners may have left their car doors unlocked.
The first incident occurred on Wednesday, April 23 when a man found his car burglarized overnight in a secured private garage in the basement of his residence.
Missing from the vehicle were an iPhone, radar detector, three hospital identification cards, and a blank Florida prescription pad. The victim told police he had not locked his car, and therefore there was no sign of forced entry.
Police are reviewing security cameras from the residence.
In a second incident on Tuesday, April 27, another car was burglarized overnight, also in a secured parking garage on the same street.
Missing from this vehicle were the man’s iPod and charger, backpack, and wallet containing credit cards, cash, driver’s license, and banking statement with his social security number.
The victim told police he had gone to the car to retrieve his cell phone the night before and may have left the door open.