Scammers Stole $5 Million From Hundreds Of Elderly People By Posing As Grandkids, Prosecutors Say

Thirteen citizens of nan Dominican Republic person been charged pinch scamming 400 grandparents successful nan U.S. retired of $5 cardinal by posing complete nan telephone arsenic their grandchildren successful request of thief — sometimes targeting nan aforesaid victims complete and complete — national prosecutors said Tuesday.

Grandparents successful Massachusetts, California, New York, Florida and Maryland received calls from group saying they were their grandchild and had conscionable been successful a car mishap aliases arrested aliases was successful nan midst of different emergency, said Leah Foley, nan U.S. lawyer for nan territory of Massachusetts.

Their goal, Foley said, was to instrumentality nan seniors into handing complete their life’s savings to thief their loved one. In galore instances, Foley said nan defendants called panicked victims “again and again,” feigning different emergency to push for much money.

A telephone halfway wherever nan alleged scammers worked.U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts

“These scams are not conscionable financially devastating, they are emotionally traumatizing,” Foley said Tuesday astatine a news convention successful Boston. “Many victims not only mislaid their savings, but their consciousness of safety, judgement and spot successful nan world astir them.”

Prosecutors said nan defendants ran a blase criminal endeavor from organized telephone centers successful nan Dominican Republic. They hired group who said English to airs arsenic nan grandchildren and lawyers arsenic good arsenic others successful nan U.S. to cod nan rate from victims’ homes, Foley said.

The mean property of nan victims was 84, and astatine slightest 50 of them were successful Massachusetts, she said.

In immoderate cases, nan fraudsters knew nan sanction of nan grandchild, Foley said. In different cases, prosecutors said they followed a vague script, identifying themselves arsenic “your oldest grandson.”

Call halfway labor allegedly kept way of nan money they earned connected a whiteboard, prosecutors said.U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts

The defendants are each citizens of nan Dominican Republic. Nine are successful custody, while 4 — from New York, New Jersey and Florida — are still at-large, prosecutors said.

Most of them look a conspiracy to perpetrate message fraud and ligament fraud charge, which is punishable by up to 20 years successful prison, and a money laundering conspiracy charge, which is besides punishable by up to 20 years successful prison.

The fraud strategy is not uncommon. In March, authorities charged 25 Canadian suspects pinch bilking U.S. seniors retired of $21 cardinal successful a akin grandparent scam.

Ted Docks, nan typical supplier successful complaint of nan FBI’s Boston section office, said criminals overseas are “doing this successful pandemic levels.”

“What nan accused did successful targeting our seniors was calculated, cold-hearted and cruel,” he said. “No grandparent should ever person to wonderment if nan adjacent telephone they get is it a outcry for thief aliases a trap.”