Framingham Police: Senior Citizen Deceived Out of $16,000 in Bail Scam
FRAMINGHAM – A Framingham resident was robbed of $16,000 in a bail money scam, said Framingham Police spokesperson Lt. Rachel Mickens.
A man described as a Hispanic male, thin build, and about 5-feet, 6-inches tall went to a Westgate Road residence to pick up the money, said Lt. Mickens.
The male left in a white SUV with Mainer plates, said Lt. Mickens.
The man tricked into giving the money in the bail scam was over the age of 65, said police.
In some bail scams, the caller claims to be a bondsman helping a relative arrested or involved in an accident and urgently asks the individual for bail money.
AARP recommends the following tips, if someone calls and demands bail money:
- Hang up immediately and call the family member in question, on a known number, to make sure they’re safe. With luck, they’ll answer, and you’ll know the supposed emergency call is a scam.
- Contact other family members or friends if you have any concern that the emergency could be real. Scammers plead with you to keep the situation a secret precisely so you won’t try to confirm it.
- Trust your instincts. As the American Bar Association advises, if something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t.
- Don’t drop your guard because the number on your caller ID looks familiar. Scammers can use technological tricks to make it appear that they’re calling from a trusted number, the Federal Communications Commission warns.
- Don’t volunteer information — scammers fish for facts they can use to make the impersonation believable.
- Don’t send cash, wire money, or provide numbers from gift or cash-reload cards to a person claiming to be a relative. Scammers prefer those payment methods because they’re difficult to trace.
- Don’t panic, no matter how dire the relative’s predicament sounds. Scam artists want to get you upset to distract you from spotting the scam
