Flanders deli worker forks over $4,700 in phone scam

An employee at a Flanders business was tricked into paying nearly $4,700 to a man who called the business last week saying was with a money transfer company and that the business owed him money, according to a police report.

The Flanders Road deli employee was told during the 2:30 p.m. phone call Tuesday that the caller was representing MoneyGram, according to the report.

The man claimed the deli owed his company $4,655.35 and that the employee must wire the money to the man in six separate installments to settle the debt, police said. The caller ID for the man stated the call was coming from Western Union, the employee told police.

The employee made three payments of $754.50, one payment of $503.95, and two payments of $943.95 to six separate prepaid credit cards, police said.

The owner of the deli said his business didn’t owe MoneyGram any money, and if it did, it would have been paid automatically, police said. Detectives are investigating the incident, which has been categorized as grand larceny.