Page 6 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • January 30, 2013 Wyckoff Lottery, sublet scams reported by John Koster An 83-year-old woman lost $4,500 in a scam that focused on her supposed winning of $15 million in a lottery. A CVS Pharmacy employee contacted the Wyckoff Police Department on Jan. 16 after the woman had been shopping in the pharmacy and purchased five $500 gift cards. The employee spoke with the woman and came to believe she might have been targeted for a scam. Detective Sergeant Michael Musto and Sergeant Michael Ragucci spoke with the woman and learned that she had been in touch with someone who had told her that she had won $15 million in a lottery. The woman was told that she needed to pay $2,000 to collect her winnings, so she sent $2,000 in a parcel shipment to an address in Little River, South Carolina. The police attempted to intercept the package with the $2,000, but found it had already been claimed. The woman told police that after she sent the package, she had been told to purchase the gift cards and scratch off the code numbers on the back and send the information to the scammer. The scammer was then able to access the funds. Police discovered that the five cards had a zero balance left on them. Another less original scam was also investigated by Wyckoff Patrolman Ryan Tenney. A 22-year-old Wyckoff man has posted an ad on Craigslist attempting to sublet a New York apartment. The Wyckoff man agreed on a price with the prospective buyer and he received a check from Texas that was $1,925 higher than the agreed amount. The Wyckoff man contacted the man in Texas and the Texas man told him the check was sent in error and the Wyckoff man should wire the overage to Texas. The Wyckoff man sent the money by wire, but discovered days later that the Texas man’s check was fraudulent. On Jan. 17, a Wyckoff woman left her car unlocked in the parking lot of the George Washington School. When she returned, she found that her purse had been rummaged through and three credit cards were missing. Subsequent investigation revealed that the credit cards had been used at a gas station and a pharmacy in Fair Lawn. Detective Sergeant Musto and Patrolman Kevin Pinches investigated. A 25-year-old Hawthorne man was released after posting 10 percent of his $25,000 bail after a police surveillance reportedly caught him stealing from a store where he had once worked. Police began to investigate the reported burglaries at Garett Teel Sports, Inc. at 451 Braen Avenue, where the manager reported the loss of money from the business. The investigation suggested that a former employee must be responsible for the thefts and that he had been entering the building while the business was closed by using the entry codes for doors. Patrolman William Plisich established a surveillance of the building during the overnight hours. On the second night of the surveillance, Jan. 22, the patrolman observed the 25-year-old Hawthorne man entering the building. When he emerged and was apprehended by Patrolman Plisich and Sergeant Jack McEwan, the 25-year-old man was reportedly in possession of $370 in marked cash bills that had been left in the store. The suspect was charged with burglary and theft. Police assert that he had stolen about $25,000 through multiple burglaries over the course of about one year. J. KOSTER Man charged with stealing