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WHOPPER OF A SCAM
Photo By Joe Giuliani
By Mark Hatoff For the Pine Barrens Tribune
Area Businesses Urged to Take Precautions After Burger King Manager Falls Victim to Fraud By Douglas D. Melegari
Staff Writer
PEMBERTON—A manager of a Burger King in the Browns Mills part of Pemberton Township fell victim to an elaborate scam last week, and the establishment’s franchise, by sharing what happened, is hoping other businesses can avoid being similiarly scammed. Scammers targeted the fast-food eatery at 102 Juliustown Road last Wednesday, Aug. 29. “The store in Browns Mills received a call around 5:45 p.m. Wednesday from an individual who identified himself as Matt Prop,” said Mark Griffith, director of special projects for Parade Enterprises, which owns and operates a franchise of 60 Burger King restaurants, including the Browns Mills restaurant. “He claimed
he was from Burger King corporate in Miami, Fla. and instructed the manager to take $600 from the store and wire it to him from a CVS store across the street.” Griffith said the caller instructed the manager to not call the restaurant’s district manager because “we are in a conference call with him now” and “he knows all about it.” The manager, tricked into believing that his boss was on a “three-way conference call” with Burger King corporate, and fearful of losing his job if he didn’t follow directions, fell for the scam. “The caller also instructed the manager to close the store while wiring the money, and put a sign on the door stating that it was closed due to computer issues,” Griffith said. “The manager did close the restaurant, did go to the CVSˮ and did send the money.”
Proposal to Include Township Officials in Event Planning Tabled After Debate
Griffith said Patrolman Tyler Wolf, of the Pemberton Township Police Department, was dispatched to the restaurant later that evening, at 7:18 p.m., to take a report of fraud from the manager who caught on to the scam only after the money was sent. “I had to read it twice,” Griffith said. “No one from our corporate office would ever do something like this.” He added that the scammer’s telephone number, as recorded by caller ID, was 251-230-5322. He also said that the number’s voicemailbox was full when attempts were made to call the person back. Numerous attampts to call the number by the Pine Barrens Tribune were not successful. “Police were contacted and interviewed See SCAM / Page 18
TABERNACLE—A proposed ordinance that would require coordinators of large-scale special events planned for Tabernacle Township to discuss their plans with local officials in advance of an event, and submit a safety plan to the township’s Office of Emergency Management, has continued to occupy the front burner of the Tabernacle Township Committee’s agenda. After the proposal was passionately debated by both residents and officials for 41 minutes of the committee’s Aug. 27 meeting, a decision was made to table voting on it until the next committee meeting scheduled for Sept. 24. Most comments from the public and committee members centered on how many people would need to be present at an activity for it to be deemed a large-scale special event. Three hundred attendees at an activity was the criteria that was cited in the second reading of the proposed ordinance. However, weddings, funeral processions and school-sponsored activities would be exempt. Resident Fran Brooks asked the committee how they determined that 300 people attending an activity would be an appropriate definition of a “large-scale event.” “What if more people come to an event than originally expected?” she asked. Her husband, Stuart Brooks, asked whether that number would also include people staffing See PLANNING/ Page 22
INDEX Automotive................ 23 Business Directory.... 16 Dental Column........... 11 Gardening Column.... 15
Health........................ 11 Hobbyist.................... 14 Local News.................. 4 Marketplace............... 21
Opinion........................ 7 Truck Driver Appreciation.............. 12 Worship Directory........ 9
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