Braintree Police Department Warn of New Online Scam

Braintree police are now warning resident to look out for a new online scam they say they’ve never seen before.

Braintree Police Officer Peter Gillis said on the department’s NextDoor page that a resident was scammed out of $3,000 using a method the department saw for the first time when it was reported over the weekend.

“The victim was contacted by a friend on Facebook (most likely a hacked account) who stated they had won $200,000.00 but needed to send money to an attorney in order to process the prize. The victim then began talking to ‘the attorney’ who also contacted them on Facebook, who then instructed her to send 4 payments over a period of 4 days via “MoneyGram”. All told, the victim was out over $3,000 before they realized it was a scam,” Gillis said.

Gillis is warning residents that if a Facebook friend is sending you messages that you’ve won money, the profile has most likely been hacked and it’s a scam.

“I ask that you please remember not to send these people money, no matter how legitimate it appears. The IRS, Microsoft, and other scams out there are preying on everyone, particularly the elderly,” he said.

Residents are asked to check in with older family members and inform them of the scam.