Hingham Elderly Residents Lose Thousands To Scams: PD

HINGHAM, MA — Police have urged people to be careful after several residents lost thousands of dollars from scams the last few weeks. According to police, the scams mostly targeted the elderly via phone calls and getting information over the internet.

In one case, police said a suspect called an 83-year-old woman and claimed to be her grandson. The suspect told the victim he was arrested and needed bail money. Police said the woman followed the caller's insurrections and bought $5,000 worth of Home Depot gift cards before giving the card number and codes over the phone.

According to police, an 88 year-old woman was targeted in a similar call, where the caller posed as a relative, said they were arrested, and needed money to resolve the case. The woman sent $8,000 in cash to a New York address, but didn't realize it was a scam until police said the suspect called back asking for another $8,000.

People were also targeted over the computer. Police said a woman went online to renew a subscription, but she stopped when she got a popup with a phone number claiming her computer was infected with a virus. The woman told police she called the number, and the suspects offered to fix her computer remotely. Police said she gave the suspects access to her computer, and she followed their instructions, buying $2,100 worth of gift Google Play, iTunes and Best Buy gift cards. The woman took pictures of the gift card numbers and codes and sent them to the suspects, police said.

According to police, these types of scams have been common over the last seven years.

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