Public safety report: Cluster of text scams cause residents to lose thousands

Police this week responded to reports of two related text scams, which cost the reporting parties thousands of dollars.

Police responded to the first call at 12:01 p.m. on Oct. 17. The reporting party said she received a text telling her to call what was alleged to be Santander Bank. Even though the reporting party didn’t believe she had given any banking information during the call, scammers were able to transfer out nearly $10,000.

The same day police also responded to a call at 3:09 p.m. The reporting party received a text that said it was from Citizens Bank. The individual called the number and gave bank information on the phone and had around $9,000 transferred out of a bank account.

A police spokesperson said the Waltham Police Department believes that these incidents are connected. Both matters are under investigation.

Additional police activity

A summary of additional public safety activity from Oct. 16 to Oct. 22 is as follows:

On Oct. 16 at 9:26 p.m., police responded to a call on Middlesex Circle where the reporting party said she had received text messages saying that she and her daughter were going to be abducted. The police advised the party that this was a scam.

At 11:54 p.m. police responded to 200 Trapelo Road where the security guard said that children were shining flashlights at him. Officers could not locate anyone on the property.

On Oct. 17 at 8:43 a.m., police responded to a call at the Marriott Courtyard Hotel on Winter Street. The reporting party had had his tires slashed while parked in the parking lot. The matter is under investigation.

At 7:48 p.m. police responded to a call from a man who said he had been walking on Elm Street when he was tackled from behind. He struggled with the other person until the person pulled out a knife and stole the man’s phone. The incident is under investigation and appears to be an isolated incident.

On Oct. 18 at 12:28 p.m., police and fire responded to reports of smoke in a house on Gale Street. When firefighters entered the house, they found an oven in cleaning mode with cutting boards and pans inside that had caught fire. The fire crew was able to turn off the stove and remove the items that had caught fire. The area was checked with thermal cameras, which showed that the fire was isolated to the oven.

On Oct. 20 at 11:26 a.m., police responded to a shoplifting call at Marshall’s on Market Place Drive. The suspect had entered the bathroom with clothes from the store, came out of the bathroom wearing those clothes and left the premises. The matter is under investigation.

At 4:29 p.m., police responded to a call on Cooper Street. The reporting party said she had offered a stranger a ride. When she dropped him off, he took a pile of bills she had on her front seat and ran. The matter is under investigation.

On Oct. 21 at 6:06 p.m., police responded to a call on Central Street. The reporting party said she had applied for a job online and was contacted over the phone and told she needed to send a photo of her passport and her bank account number so that she could get set up with $5,000 to begin the job. Officers believed this to be a type of scam where the scammer transfers money to the target and subsequently requests that the target send a portion of the money back; ultimately the scammer’s initial transfer turns out to be fraudulent, and the target has lost the money they transferred to the scammer. It was unclear whether the reporting party gave out her information, but she reportedly did not transfer any money back because she identified that it was a scam.