Marblehead Police say a woman was almost scammed out of nearly $10,000, and her family, police and UPS prevented a package full of cash from falling into the wrong hands.
The scam call was made Wednesday to an 86-year-old Marblehead grandmother.
“They were able to convince this woman that her grandson was arrested somewhere and that he needed bail money," Marblehead Police Chief Robert Picariello said.
The caller said in order to release the woman's grandson, she needed to send thousands of dollars in cash by 10:30 a.m. Thursday morning.
"She took out $9,500 in cash and mailed it to the address they told her to in New Jersey," Picariello said.
Her family found out Thursday morning and called police.
"They came right to us this morning," Picariello said.
Police then contacted UPS security, who went right to work.
“Who immediately got on the package and tracked it and found it was on the truck actually out for delivery," Picariello said.
They stopped that package and the money from being delivered, and Picariello said he didn't blame the grandmother at all.
"She did nothing wrong," Picariello said. "She's trying to do what's right for her grandchild.
>>RELATED: Oxford man accused of real estate scam facing new 22-count indictment
The family and grandmother were relieved and thankful, and police say their story of getting the money back is the exception.
Now, they want this family to get the word out on this "arrested grandchild" scam to prevent anyone else from becoming a victim.
“They are very interested in making sure that the word gets out," Picariello said. "That this doesn’t happen potentially to somebody else.”
Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/7QOJU3BNCJERBNKJC5LWTBYFLU.png)
