Police officials in an eastern Massachusetts town are notifying residents of a phone scam that purports to solicit money for former servicemembers, Your Town Hingham reported.
The Hingham Police Department sent an email to the town's residents this week, warning them about the so-called Hingham Veterans that has recently attempted to solicit money over the phone. About 15 complaints of solicitations were filed Oct. 24, raising the police department's suspicions.
Authority officials told the news source that while the phone calls are being driven by a real veterans organization – the Vietnam Veterans of Massachusetts – the Hingham Veterans group does not exist. The town, however, does have a Veterans Services department.
According to the news outlet, the veterans group hired a firm to collect the funds, some of which are going to actual veterans who do not reside in Hingham. This goes against the paperwork the firm, Focal Point Consulting, handed in to Veterans Services.
"To hire a firm that when [a resident asks], 'Is it going to Hingham veterans,' and they say, 'Yes,' that could be fraudulent," Hingham Veterans Service Officer Keith Jermyn told the news source.