Scam: Extorting Money

There's a scam involving people extorting money from a specific group of people: Spanish speaking.  The scam has taken place mostly in the Boston area and, recently, Mary Lazado, 34, from Lynn was arrested.

The caller is typically a male who speaks in Spanish and says, “We have your son, and we will kill him. . . . If you hang up, we will kill him.’’

Well, a number of Spanish-speaking folks in Worcester have received similar telephone calls and a few people from South America were quick to wire money to the caller.  Bad move.

With the world and reeling with tough economic times, it's no surprise that more of these type of scams are taking place in Massachusetts and in other parts of the United States.

With a target group that knows about kidnapping too well, receiving such a telephone call cuts deeply.  All the receiver can do is ask that their son or daughter isn't harmed and that they will wire the money immediately.

This is not the only telephone scam that is taking place in Worcester.

In a different scam, the caller asks for a person by name and says that they've won a prize and that they need to give their full name, address and a time when they're going to be home to receive their prize.  What the caller is attempting to do is confirm the person's information and hopefully the person is gullible enough to tell the caller that they work and that they typically don't get home until a specific time and that no one is home during the day to "sign" for the prize.  Right there, the unknowing Worcester resident gives the caller too much information about their whereabouts and time schedule, thus allowing someone to easily break into their home.

If you receive a telephone call and you think it's a scam, it's best to write down the date and time of the call, whether the caller was a male or female, make note if the caller had an accent, and then call the Worcester Police Department (Non Emergency line) at 508-799-8606, to report the incident.