2 Newton Residents Scammed Out Of Money

NEWTON, MA — If someone claiming to be the police calls you and asks you to deposit money into Bitcoin, you're being swindled. Newton Police are advising residents of a recent scam where two members of the community were bamboozled out of money when something similar happened to them.

Last week a man called a resident claiming to be from the "Baltimore Social Security office," he then asked her "what town her local police was in," according to authorities.

A short while later the woman got a call from 617-796-2100, which is the Newton Police Department's main number. The man on the other end of the phone said he was from the "Town of Newton" Police Department and was calling because it appeared the woman had laundered money. The man told the woman to withdraw all of her money from the bank and go to a Bit Coin Currency ATM and deposit her money there, or she would risk arrest. Police said she followed her instructions.

In a separate call a Newton man was contacted by someone claiming to be from the police department who said he was looking for donations to help fight crime activities such as drugs coming across the borders.

Apparently this person called the man from various phone numbers, with one of them being the Newton Police's main number 617 796-2100 and because of this, the Newton resident believed the call to be legitimate. The resident then proceeded to go to a Bit Coin ATM and deposit money as a donation.

The Newton Police Department wants residents to know that it does not ask anyone to withdraw money, under any circumstances or put money on gift cards for them. If you are contacted by someone on the Newton Police Department's number, officers ask that you notify them immediately.

Experts advise: If someone calls you claiming to be any authority and then asks you simple questions like, "where do you live?" then you should suspect something is amiss. Make sure you do not give away personal details over the phone, such as your address or social security number, account number or name. Do ask them to identify themselves and provide a phone number on which to call them back.

What is Spoofing: Caller ID spoofing allows you to display a phone number different from the actual number from which the call was placed. With caller ID spoofing you can send and receive outgoing or incoming phone calls or texts that appear to be from any phone number of your choosing. A number of scammers use this technique to fool people into picking up the phone.

Other scams that have popped up in Newton:

• Man Pretends To Be From Water Dept, Newton Police Warn Of Scam (2019)
• Newton Police Warn of New Phone Scam (2017)
• Don't Fall For The 'Found Purse' Scam: Newton Police Logs' (2017)
• Another Scam Caller Claims to Hold Woman's Husband Hostage (2013)

Photo by Jenna Fisher/Patch Staff