Crime & Safety
Woman's Life Threatened in Apparent Loan Scam
Man threatened to 'send some people' to kidnap, rape and kill the Hopatcong resident when she refused to pay more money.
A man threatened to kidnap, rape and kill a Hopatcong woman when she realized the loan she was applying for was a scam, police said.
According to Lt. Thomas Kmetz, the woman applied for a loan online with a company called 5K Loan Payday. She was told to pay them $100 through a GreenDot card and was told to pay another $80, Kmetz said.
After she refused to pay them an additional $50, a man called and said he was "going to send some people" to kidnap, rape and kill her if she didn't pay the money, Kmetz said. A man called again and said he was coming with a shotgun, Kmetz said.
The woman gave the company all of her personal information for the loan she thought she was applying for and they have continued calling her since she refused to keep paying them, Kmetz said. The phone numbers have been traced to New York and Jamaica.
The Sussex County Prosecutor's Office is investigating the scam.
"Please do your research on any company you are looking to do business with," Kmetz said.
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