In Hingham, Massachusetts, a scam that's old as the hills yet still startlingly effective has claimed another victim, this time robbing a 77-year-old woman of $9,500. The con, known as the "Grandparent Scam," preyed upon her fear and love for family, as reported by the Hingham Police Department.
The scam unfolded on March 25 when the woman received a call from a person masquerading as her grandson. The caller spun a tale of a car accident involving a pregnant woman and the urgent need for cash to cover the supposed hospital bills. The woman was instructed to withdraw cash and hand it over to a so-called "federal agent" who was monitoring the case, and to keep the ordeal secret from her grandson's parents. After withdrawing the money from a local bank, a car described by the scammer arrived to collect the cash, which she handed over to the female driver waiting in a vehicle.
The next day, the fraudulent plot thickened as the same "federal agent" contacted her with news of the pregnant woman's miscarriage and the need for an additional $5,000 to contend with ensuing "legal complications." Sensing something amiss, the elderly woman contacted a family member and then the authorities. As the Hingham officers were taking her statement, the scammers made their move again, instructing her to pretend to withdraw the additional demand of cash. She followed their directions under the guidance of the responding officers, who then staged an intervention when a different car showed up to collect the sham package.
The driver of the second vehicle, seemingly a pawn in the schemers' game, claimed to have been hired via a ride share app solely to transport the package to an out-of-state location. It appeared, at the moment, that this driver was an unsuspecting participant in the scam and was consequently released without facing any charges. However, the case remains under active investigation as stated by the Hingham detectives in their continuing efforts to trace the con artists' web of deceit.
