Plymouth Police Warn About “Grandparent Scam”

The Plymouth Police Department is warning about phone and email scams that often target elderly residents.

The latest case involved an elderly man who was contacted to bail his “grandson” out of jail. He was asked to send a $14,000 payment via FedEx, which he did. But it turns out it was not his grandson. And now there is no way to get the money back.

Police say there are several ways to tell if a call is a scam.

“Always think twice before you are clicking on a link or responding to an email that is requesting money or financial information,” said Plymouth police Sgt. Angela Haseman. “If anyone is asking you for gift cards or if you think a relative is or anyone is in trouble please take a second thought. Take a step back and try to verify that information through independent sources that you have and not through the email phone call or other way you are getting that information.”

There have been at least four reports of this type of grandparent scam since January.

Police also want people to know that while caller ID can help determine if a call is a scam, numbers can be spoofed. So caller ID doesn’t always weed out scam callers.

Plymouth