NAUGATUCK — Borough police are asking residents to be on the alert for scam artists after seeing a rise in complaints of a con that targets the elderly.
Lt. Bryan Cammarata said, in a press release, the Naugatuck Police Department has noticed a recent rise in complaints regarding the “grandchild scam.”
The way the scam works, Cammarata explained, is elderly victims receive a call from someone claiming to be a police officer, lawyer or an agent of a police agency located either out of state or in another country. The caller tells the victim their grandchild has been arrested and is being held on a high bond. The caller then requests the victim wire the bond money out of state.
Cammarata said the callers often possess a great deal of personal information about the grandchild and, in some cases investigated by other agencies, the callers have even posed as the grandchild. Information used could be obtained in a number of ways including hacking into personal e-mail accounts and trolling social network sites, he said.
If anyone receives such a phone call they should first try to contact the person that is claimed to be in jail. People can also contact their local police department to assist them in obtaining information.
