'Cold-hearted’ scammers targeted hundreds by posing as grandkids in distress, prosecutors say

Thirteen citizens of the Dominican Republic have been charged with scamming 400 grandparents in the U.S. out of $5 million by posing over the phone as their grandchildren in need of help — sometimes targeting the same victims over and over — federal prosecutors said Tuesday. Grandparents in Massachusetts, California, New York, Florida and Maryland received calls from people saying they were their grandchild and had just been in a car accident or arrested or was in the midst of another emergency, said Leah Foley, the U.S. attorney for the district of Massachusetts.