A Lakewood-area resident narrowly avoided being scammed after receiving a series of alarming letters and communications from individuals posing as law enforcement officials connected to a sheriff’s office – and the letters were shared with TLS.
According to documents reviewed, the fraudulent notices falsely claimed the resident was involved in federal court matters and demanded immediate payment to avoid legal consequences. The letters were designed to appear official, featuring court-style formatting, case numbers, and government-related language intended to pressure the victim into compliance.
What raised serious red flags, however, were the payment instructions.
Rather than directing funds to legitimate government offices, the scammers instructed the resident to bring money to what appeared to be ordinary convenience store locations — including addresses tied to commercial retail properties rather than any courthouse or law enforcement agency.
Authorities and cybersecurity experts have repeatedly warned that legitimate sheriff’s offices, courts, and government agencies do not collect fines or bonds through convenience stores, prepaid cards, or unofficial third-party locations.
The fake correspondence also included references to “surety cash bonds” and urgent demands for payment prior to arrival, tactics commonly used in scam operations to create fear and rush victims into acting without verification.
Fortunately, the resident became suspicious before handing over any money and sought further review of the documents.
Officials urge the public to remain vigilant. Anyone receiving threats of arrest, demands for immediate payment, or instructions to deliver money to unusual locations should independently verify the claim by contacting the agency directly through official channels.
Residents who believe they have been targeted by a similar scam are encouraged to report the incident to local police and the appropriate consumer protection agencies.
The victim’s identifying information has been redacted for privacy.
This incident comes just days after another local scam – which cost a Lakewood resident approximately $20,000 in cash.
This is crazy, the nerve is that they write the charge is for submitting fraudlent info KOL HAPOISUL BIMUMOI POISUL
Please let your elderly relatives,friends and elderly neighbors know that any emails or phone calls requesting payments are fake and should not click on internet correspondence and hang up the phone immediately.
Any notifications from banks or government agencies will arrive by mail.
The District of New Jersey is a dead giveaway.
Any legitimate document would refer to it as as the State of New Jersey.
It’s all bad. Clearly not written by someone whose first language is English.
The email address is also a giveaway.
@proton.me
In the Federal courts (which is what the letter claims) there is a “District of New Jersey”
It seems the scammer is not a very ‘stately’ person.
So they say a phone call would be a scam because you would be notified by mail (if your bank account was frozen or fraud etc). This was done by mail. What’s next?
Keep your address off of any social media such as Facebook, Reddit, WhatsApp etc. You can also put your kids in danger by doing so and posting pictures of them.
Just the lack of a basic knowledge of the English language, grammar and punctuation should have been the first huge red flag. How do people fall for this stuff?
If you look closely there’s also a lot of spelling mistakes that would never be on an authentic document.
If you get a letter like this, please ask your friend/neighbor to Google any of the names on the letter. You will see clearly that it’s a scam.
The word documentation never appears in plural form (documentations in paragraphs 1 and 2).
I just called the 805 phone number listed. It is connected to the Santa Barbara California police.
You can block unwanted phone calls answer just receive phone calls on your phone because I only vet calls from my contacts