HINGHAM, MA — An 89-year-old woman lost $21,000 after falling victim to a computer scam.
The woman called police on Feb. 3, 2026 to report she had been scammed earlier in the day.
The woman told officers that while she was online she received a pop-up message claiming to be from Microsoft along with a phone number to call.
She called the number and spoke with a scammer who claimed to be a Microsoft employee.
The scammer told her that her bank account had been hacked by a “Russian gaming or pornography group” and that $21,000 had been taken from her account.
The scammer instructed her to call her bank’s fraud department and provided a specific phone number.
She called that number and spoke with another scammer who told her to wire money to a “federal organization” in order to track the suspects and recover her stolen money.
She sent a picture of her driver’s license to the scammers at their request and wired the money.
The woman and her family are working with her bank to attempt to recover the money.
Police warn residents to never click on pop-up boxes or unsolicited ads or emails, which may contain viruses or install programs that allow scammers to access computers.
Police advise residents to use phone numbers or email addresses directly from cards, bank statements or official websites when contacting banks or financial institutions.
