Hurricane Sandy Con Artist Spent Weeks Fooling Shelter Volunteers

Victims of Hurricane Sandy weren't the only ones taken in by David Scott Ruddy. A shelter survivor was the one who turned Ruddy in after officials ignored her pleas.

When David Scott Ruddy was arrested for allegedly flimflamming Hurricane Sandy victims out of $50,000 in FEMA funds, there was one person who not only knew who he was, but had been calling and warning officials about him for months. That was Kathleen Marchitto, who met Ruddy first at a shelter put up for Jersey Shore and other victims, and then later when she and other hurricane victims were moved to a Red Cross shelter set up at Livingston College of Rutgers University in Piscataway. Marchitto, whose apartment was flooded during the October hurricane, was at the Livingston College shelter for three weeks, and for the entire time she was there, Ruddy was there. "I knew there was something about him I didn't like. He was so persistent. He …

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IRS: Phishing Scam Targets Military, Civilian Employees

The IRS warns NJ residents to beware of this new phishing scam

A message from the Internal Revenue Service:  New Jersey residents should be on the lookout for a new email phishing scam that is now circulating and targets Department of Defense military personnel, retirees and civilian employees. According to IRS spokeswoman, Dianne Besunder, the email appears to come from Defense Finance and Accounting Services and displays a .mil email address. The message states that that those receiving disability compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) may be able to obtain additional funds from the IRS. E-mail recipients are then asked to send various VA and IRS documents containing their personal and financial information, such as copies of VA award letters and their income tax returns, to an …

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Hurricane Irene

N.J. Officials Warn of Possible Scams After Irene

There have been nearly 50 reports of price gouging since state of emergency declared.

The New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs is warning residents to beware of shady businesses and vendors showing up in the wake of Hurricane Irene. Neal Buccino, a spokesman with the division, said there already have been 46 reports of price gouging since the storm—on items including bottled water, gasoline and hotel rooms. He said there's been no reports of home repair or charity scams yet. Buccino said his division has investigated 23 of the cases and none had broken the law, but the investigation is continuing, "While they have found some high prices … the cases we've fully investigated have turned out not to be violations." New Jersey law forbids merchants from raising prices by more than 10 percent during a state of emergency and 30…

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