Cab driver stops ‘grandparent scam’

"A Quincy (Mass) cab driver is being praised by police for helping an 87-year-old woman who was being scammed out of thousands of dollars worth of gift cards she bought at Walmart on Wednesday."

Richard Spencer, a driver for Yellow Cab, picked up an 87-year-old woman to drive her to Walmart, according to Quincy police in a statement posted to Facebook.

During the trip, the woman told Spencer that she needed to buy gift cards for her grandson because he was in trouble. Spencer recalled that another cab driver told him that the woman had gone to the store earlier Wednesday to buy a pair of $2,000 gift cards, according to Quincy police.

Spencer believed the woman was being scammed and took her to Quincy police, where she told officers that a man claiming to be her grandson called her and reported he was in an auto accident, police said.

The caller told the woman he “needed the victim to send him gift cards so he would not go to jail,” according to police. The caller gave the woman instructions to call a cab, go to buy two gift cards, call him back, and give him the numbers on the cards, police said.

“This, ladies and gentlemen, is a text-book ‘Grandparent Scam.’ While the victim in this scam may be out $4,000 (which is a substantial amount of money), it could have been much, much worse,” police said on Facebook.

Quincy police asked cashiers to be mindful if they see an elderly person buy gift cards with a large amount of money.