Clarkstown PD charge Massachusetts woman for taking part in infamous “TV Scam”

REPORT FROM CPD 

The Clarkstown Police Department arrested a 30-year-old female from Cambridge Massachusetts on Thursday for her alleged involvement in an ongoing scam that has been carried out for years across the northeast, originating in the Boston area.

The victims of the scam are offered an opportunity to get a discount on a high end Samsung 65” TV from a Sears store. The suspect poses as a Sears employee and meets the victim in the parking lot of the store. The victim hands over the money and is told to wait at the store merchandise pick up area for the TV, which never comes.

On February 18, 2016 at approximately 6 p.m. the Clarkstown Police Department responded to Sears in Nanuet for a report of fraud. Officers interviewed a loss prevention employee who observed the fraud taking place. The employee, a 35-year-old male from Nanuet, was able to hold the suspect at the scene until officers arrived.

Lindsay Kippenberger, 30, from Cambridge, MA was arrested and transported to police headquarters for processing. The victim, a 59-year-old male from Westwood, NJ stated that he met the suspect in the parking lot of the store and exchanged $2,100 for three Samsung 65” smart screens. He never got the TVs. Kippenberger was charged with criminal possession of stolen property (felony).

She was arraigned in the Clarkstown Justice Court. Bail was set at $10,000 and she was transported to the Rockland County Jail. Her return court date is set for February 22, 2016 at 1:30 p.m.

This scam is being investigated by multiple law enforcement agencies in several states. Anyone having information or who has been a victim is asked to call Det. Michael Novotny of the Clarkstown Detective Bureau at 845-639-5864.