Phone scam costs Hingham man almost $100,000, police say. Here's what happened

HINGHAM − A Hingham man lost almost $100,000 in a telephone scam, police said Monday.

The 84-year-old man told police he received a call last week from a man who claimed he was from PayPal. The caller said $100 had accidentally been deposited into the resident's bank account.

"The caller asked him to open his account on his computer and asked him to type information and/or go to several sites on his computer," Hingham police said. "This likely gave the caller remote access to the resident's computer and open bank account."

The caller then said the amount deposited by mistake was actually $100,000, not $100. The resident looked at his account online and saw what appeared to be a $100,000 deposit in his bank account.

The caller told the resident to go to his bank and get two cashier's checks for $49,800 each to pay the money back. The caller told him to mail the two checks overnight via UPS to an address in North Carolina.

"The caller warned him if he was questioned at his bank about the large transactions, he should tell them he was buying a car," police said.

His bank did not question the withdrawals, police said. The man mailed out the checks and they were cashed immediately.

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Caller scams Hingham man out of almost $100,000