Residents are reminded to be wary of any type of emails, letters, or phone calls from persons not known to you that involves you sending money via Western Union to other locations or addresses, especially international addresses. Scams have occurred whereby the caller or emailer will send you a check for a certain amount of money, asking you to deposit it to your own account then to Western Union monies to them based on that check. Those checks sent to you are fraudulent. You will not realize it until your bank contacts you about that check not being valid.

Other scams, one of which is being investigated presently, involve a resident accepting delivery of packages after receiving a call from a person who requested the parcels be sent to this resident. In turn, the resident would re-package the items and send them to another overseas address. In return for the favor of sending the packages the resident was promised a monetary payment. These parcels were all purchased with stolen credit card numbers.

There are numerous scams, frauds and cons perpetrated each day on unsuspecting citizens. These occur here in Bergenfield too. The Bergenfield Police request residents to be aware of the frauds and to watch out for their elderly friends and neighbors too. Senior citizens are often easy targets for the scammers. Speak to your neighbors and make them aware.

Websites with useful information on scams and frauds:

FBI http://www.fbi.gov/scams-safety/fraud

NABI http://www.nabihq.org/en-us/cons_and_scams/