Police tell cautionary tale after 43-year-old Massachusetts woman scammed out of $56,000

A Massachusetts woman fell victim to a scam that began with a phone call and ended with her going to her bank and doing a wire transfer of $56,000 to the scammers.

According to police, on Wednesday, a 43-year-old Hingham resident reported to police that she received an unsolicited phone call the night before at 6:00 p.m. claiming to be from the Fraud Department at her local bank. The caller said someone came into the bank branch today trying to impersonate her to make a wire transfer. They did not allow this transfer but because her account was likely compromised she would need to transfer her money to a new account.

The caller said because the bank was closed for the night, they would call her in the morning on taking the next steps. They called her back at 9:00 a.m. and instructed her to go to her local branch and transfer her money into a “new safe account”. They told her to stay on the phone as she entered the bank and to remain on the phone. The resident then completed a wire transfer to the numbers given to her by the caller. Once the transfer of the $56,000 was complete they assured her they were conducting an investigation.

The resident called back a short time later to make sure she was not being scammed and was assured that her money was covered by the “FDC up to $250,000”. Hours later she became more suspicious, called the local bank branch, and learned she had been scammed.

Police are investigating the incident.