Point Pleasant Boro Police Warn About Scammers Acting As Cops

POINT PLEASANT BORO – Police are warning residents about scammers who are falsely portraying themselves as law enforcement officers and attempting to gain access to your bank accounts.

Police said the scam involves callers who say they are with a law enforcement agency investigating a money-laundering incident. The callers want information from bank accounts that they claim were accessed by possible criminals.

"Basically, they threaten that a warrant will be issued unless you cooperate," police said. "They will try to get your personal information and/or have you respond to a local Walmart. Target, Lowes etc. to get gift cards and then read the gift card numbers off the back of the cards."

Police say law enforcement will never have you go to various stores to obtain gift cards as a form of payment. Unfortunately, police said, once the scammers have the gift card information, the balances are usually depleted by the scammers a short time later.

"Many times these criminals are conducting their scams from other countries. These scammers can be very convincing and intimidating," police said. "You can always advise the caller that you are going to confirm the information with your local police department or you can simply hang up and contact the Point Pleasant Police Department at 732-892-0060 and file a report. "

Residents can also visit the Federal Trade Commission website at consumer.ftc.gov for the latest scams affecting the country.