On Friday, January 17th, at 2 p.m., a Roselle Park resident was contacted over the telephone by an unknown male stating that he was from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The caller knew the family members by name and stated that they had not paid their taxes since 2008. The caller demanded that they pay their tax debt immediately to avoid getting arrested, losing their jobs, and seizing their property as well as bank accounts.
The caller next directed the family member to respond to a specific local convenience store where they were directed to purchase a “Green Dot MoneyPak” and placing a specified amount of money on it. Once that was done, he asked for the PIN on the card to retrieve the money. After this was completed, the caller stated that it was not enough money and directed the resident to respond to a second convenience store and purchase another “Green Dot MoneyPak” and turn over the PIN.
This was done once more before the resident depleted her funds and the caller hung up. Every time the resident tried to get off the phone the caller threatened to arrest her.
The total amount of the theft was approximately $8,000.
Anyone with information regarding this investigation, please contact the Roselle Park Police Department at (908) 245-2300.