Thief grabs woman’s phone, uses Venmo to steal $2,500
Police say the man claimed to be raising money for his basketball team.
A man who claimed to be raising money for a basketball team allegedly scammed a woman out of $2,500 in Montclair.
The victim was walking to her car in a parking lot near The Crescent parking deck when the man approached her and said he was raising money for his basketball team, police said. The suspect, who appeared to be about 19 or 20 years old, showed the victim a website that he claimed was associated with the team.
According to Montclair police, the woman agreed to donate money and began the transfer process using her Venmo account.
“It was at this time the suspect took the victim’s cellphone from her hand and held onto her phone for approximately one minute before giving it back and fleeing in an unknown direction,” police said.
The victim then learned that the man had used the Venmo account to transfer $2,500 into another account.
Police are continuing to search for the suspect, who is described as a dark-skinned Black male wearing black shorts and a shirt, with twists or locks in his hair.
The case remains under investigation.
