Story Archive

Where To, Lady?

When his 87-year-old passenger told a taxi driver in Quincy, Mass., the purpose of her trip, he realized she was being scammed. In what Quincy police call a “textbook grandparent scam,” the woman received a telephone call from her “grandson” saying he was in trouble and needed money — in the form of Walmart gift cards — and she was heading to the store to buy them. “I said ‘excuse me ma’am, but that is not your grandson,’” cabbie Richard Spencer told her. Another driver said he took the same woman to Walmart earlier the same day, where she bought $4,000 in gift cards, but the scammer was trying to take her for even more. Spencer took her to the police station instead, and officers confirmed she was the victim of a scam. “It just goes to show what scumbags they are,” Spencer said later. “They’re too lazy to go out and steal like a real criminal.” (RC/WBZ Boston) ...And with $4,000 you can get some pretty nice guns at Walmart.