The Plainville Police Department is warning residents of two scams targeting our residents, especially the elderly.

The first scam reported to Plainville Police dealt with an elderly female resident of Plainville receiving a telephone call from, whom she believed to be her 15-year-old grandson. The caller sounded upset and told the elderly women that he had a problem and needed help. The young male caller went on to tell the elderly female victim that he was in Trinidad and was involved in a car accident, that he was being held in jail by the police in Trinidad and was being held responsible for damages and that cash was required for him to get out of jail. The young male imposter even gave the victim the name of his attorney and phone number in Trinidad.

The elderly victim called the telephone number given and was put through to the young male imposter, who she again thought was her grandson. This person asked the elderly victim if she had the Western Union transaction number. The elderly victim was contacted twice, both times requesting money to help the person posing as her grandson. In total, the elderly victim was scammed out of $5,500.

The second scam involved a Plainville resident who was searching for a job online. She answered an ad to be a "Mystery Shopper" for a marketing research company. The female victim gave her name, phone number and reason for her interest online. After giving her information, the female victim was contacted by voice mail asking if she was still interested in the Mystery Shopper position.

She then received a telephone call from a man who sent her an envelope from the marketing research company. The envelope contained a letter explaining her job, a payroll check for $2,500, an informational form to fill out and fax back to the company. The letter explained that $300 was her payment, $1,900 was to be used for a Western Union money transfer to evaluate Western Union, $129 was for Western Union senders fees and another $100 for the victim to use for shopping.

The victim went to her bank, cashed the check as a payroll check. She then went to Western Union and wired $1,900 via Western Union to London as instructed. The next time she checked her bank account it was short $3,000.

The Plainville Police want to warn all residents about these telephone scams. Don't fall victim to scams asking you to use Western Union and wire money overseas. Check with the police if you have questions about a call you received and never give out any banking information over the telephone.

— Authorized by: Sgt. Charles A. Smedick, administrative sergeant