Beware, warns Nahant scam victim

NAHANT – It’s called the grandparent scam and Marion Doyle and her husband, Bob, learned about it the hard way.Late in the afternoon on Feb. 6, the couple received a frantic call from their grandson, David, who told them he and a friend had been in a car accident in Canada and subsequently arrested. They needed $3,900 wired to them to pay their bail.”I said, ‘I’m going to crown you. What are you doing up there?'” Marion Doyle recalled saying before rushing to the Lynnway Wal-Mart and wiring a Money Gram north.Before hanging up, David told Doyle not to tell his mother about the mishap: He would tell her when he returned to the United States.As soon as they heard about the call, Doyle’s children confirmed David was at his New Hampshire job and not in Moncton, Canada. They tried to halt the Money Gram and asked Comcast for help in identifying the source of the call to their parents. Both efforts were unsuccessful.”I feel like I was violated and stupid,” said Marion Doyle.Lynn Police Lt. William Sharpe said seniors like Doyle are victims of sophisticated, well-acted scams aimed at the hearts of loving and well-meaning grandparents.”Don’t tell anyone, but I need help. Send money,” is the typical approach Sharpe said thieves use.They introduce themselves with lines like, “It’s me,” or, “It’s your favorite grandchild.”If the senior responds to the plea, the scam artist spins a tale of woe similar to the one pitched at the Doyles. The thieves also listen for their confused victim to say something like, “Is that you, Danny?”Marion Doyle, who has 17 grandchildren, is not sure if she mentioned her grandson’s name to the scam artist who called her or if the caller got lucky.”It sounded so real,” she said.Sharpe urged seniors to take several precautions to avoid grandparent scams including staying alert for callers who ask for money; claim to be calling from a foreign country; insist the senior does not contact anyone, as well as anyone with an unfamiliar voice or who is vague about self descriptions.Sharpe said seniors should not provide personal or financial information over the telephone.”Tell the person that you will call them back. If you don’t have a grandchild’s number, call a trusted family member for the information,” he said.Sharpe urged all local residents to protect identity and financial information by always asking unfamiliar callers to verify their identity. They should call the Lynn police, 781-595-2000, and a family member if they think they have been victimized by scam artists.”It’s natural to want to help out a family member, but a real family member won’t mind that you are trying to keep yourself safe, and the fake one will be out of luck,” Sharpe said.Marion Doyle chalks up her lost money to a live and learn experience.”Still, at our age, on a fixed income, this kind of hurts.”