Hanover Man Falls Victim to Elder Scam (MA. USA)

By Dana Forsythe

Mar 04, 2009,

Hanover Police are warning residents to be on the lookout for fraud, as a Hanover senior was taken for $6,000 last week.

 Last week, Donald Westberg, 71, was tricked by a caller, posing as his grandson, asked him to wire money to help resolve a legal problem.

According to police, in this recent scam, callers often identify themselves as a grandchild and typically say they’re in custody in Canada. They sometimes ask for money to pay for emergencies including car, or in this case, legal troubles.

 Last Wednesday (Feb. 25), Westberg said he received a call from someone posing as his grandson, who attends Plymouth State University in New Hampshire. The caller said he’d gone to Canada with a friend for a wedding, rented a car and failed a sobriety test.

 “He said he was being held for $3,400 and that a public attorney would call back in an hour with specific instructions,” Westberg said. “I figured I couldn’t call back on [my grandson’s] cell phone because they probably took it, so I didn’t move on that. But, it sounded so much like him I was emotionally wrapped up in it.”

 

Another caller purporting to be the lawyer asked Westberg to send a Moneygram to Toronto for bail money. The caller told Westberg where the nearest Moneygram location was: at the Shaw’s Supermarket in Hanover.

The next morning, Westberg said he received another call from the ‘lawyer’ saying that Westberg’s grandson had been sued, and requested another $2,500 to free him.

 “I regretfully did the same thing,” he said. “I told [my grandson] to call me when he was on his way back to New Hampshire.”

After a few hours of not receiving a call, Westberg called his grandson’s cell phone and learned he had never been to Canada and the entire thing was a rouse.

 Westberg is still confused as to how the callers got the personal information to initiate the scam.

Individuals can contact the attorney general's consumer hotline at 617-727- 8400.

Locally, Old Colony Elderly Services can be contacted at 508-584-1561 if seniors are suspecting a financial scam.

Abridged

SOURCE:    Hanover Mariner - MA,USA 

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