3 Chilling Scams That Are Happening Right Here in New Jersey

This article is a 3 part report on "scams" that I have encountered or I have been informed about and all three situations are happening here in New Jersey. I want to bring these to your attention so you don't end up becoming a victim. I also want to share these so you can let folks in your life that may be more prone to falling for scams be informed so they don't let themselves be taken advantage of.

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Email Scam

You may have already received this type of email, but this is a blatant scam "phishing" to get you to click on these links because you don't want a false charge brought against you. The first thing is it is fake. The closing source of origination should be a huge red flag. "Department of Transportation" is so vague. What department of transportation? Local municipality? State Division of Transportation? Who? Where?

There is no "location" of the offense. Nothing to validate the "possibility" it happened. Where did I "Run a Red Light"? How was this recorded? No context and I personally know for a fact I did not ignore a red light on that date or any date.

So be sure when you see this vague "click bait" to delete and ignore, it's just an attempt to get you to go down their "rabbit hole" to get your information. Tell friends and family to DELETE.

Prayer Scam

I was told about this scam I did not personally experience this attempt by thieves to get your information. Recently a couple encountered a small group of people in a shopping center parking lot. The group approached them asking them to take part in a group prayer. The small group began praying and walking very close to the couple. They continued walking through the parking lot praying out loud in close proximity to the couple. The couple was wise to not get involved and walked immediately into the store.

Shortly later they noticed charges on their credit card that they did not make. So what was the scam? Probably a form of remote scanning. According to Wikipedia, "RFID skimming is a method to unlawfully obtain someone's payment card information using a RFID reading device." In addition, "Most modern mobile phones running Android OS have a built in NFC reader that can be used to unlawfully scan contactless payment cards. A criminal can hide the scanner e.g. inside a glove or a bag, and then place it close to the victim and wirelessly steal the victim's payment card information." 

So the thieves just wanted a reason to literally get close to the victim to run a scan. They needed close proximity and time to obtain the info. So never engage in behavior like this, especially randomly in a parking lot. Leave and report this to authorities.

Look into various wallets, purses, etc. that have RFID Scanning blockers. This will keep thieves from trying to remotely scan you for data.

Fake Emergency

The third "scam" I was told about was an incident someone in my own family encountered. They were once again in a large store parking lot when a person yelled out from their car that they were having some type of emergency and needed help.

Some red flags included that they could see people sitting in the dark car in the back seat. If it was an emergency why weren't these people helping? Obviously, my family was not "medical" personnel so how could they help? Why was no one immediately going into the store for aid? It appeared they were trying to get the people close to their vehicle.

What they were up to is not sure. Possibly a robbery attempt?  Another form of RFID remote scanning? Who knows, but always avoid getting close to an unknown vehicle, especially at night. Leave this situation and report to authorities in the store. Call 911 to report. Do not go into the vehicle.

These are the three recent "scams" I have come across please share these with your loved ones so they are aware to avoid them.

Share any additional scams you have encountered so we learn more to avoid being taken advantage of. Post your comments below.