Police come to the rescue after 93-year-old Massachusetts woman scammed out of $17,500

Scammers can be very convincing. They call, email, and send text messages trying to get your money or sensitive personal information-like your Social Security or account numbers-and they’re good at what they do. 

According to Chief Michael Carbone, on Monday at approximately 6:53 p.m., Duxbury Police received a call from a citizen who stated that she believed her 93-year-old mother had been scammed. Officer Pollini responded to the residence and immediately began investigating the matter.

The victim, a resident of Tussock Brook Road, received an alert on her computer stating that the computer was compromised and infected with a virus. The alert instructed her to contact Microsoft Support, so she called the number that appeared on her screen. The suspect gave a lengthy explanation to the victim about the compromised files on her computer, and claimed it involved her bank Rockland Trust and the Federal Trade Commission. The scammer advised the victim she would be receiving a call from a Federal Agent, who would give her instructions. A person then called the victim giving her the details on how to address the issue. 

Officer Pollini discovered that the victim had mailed $17,500 in cash via UPS following the instructions given by the fake Federal Agent. Officer Pollini proactively contacted UPS and was able to track down the package that was in route to Logan Airport with a final destination of New York. Officer Pollini coordinated with UPS to have the package brought back to the Kingston UPS Shipping Warehouse where it was secured and returned to the victim without incident. 

The immediate investigation by Officer Pollini and the actions he took prevented the woman from suffering a financial loss. 

This incident, like many scam reports, need to be reported in a timely manner in order for the victim to avoid a financial loss. 

Carbone stated that the incident will be followed up by Detectives.