Attempted scams have become part of everyday life. In 2025 alone, the Belmont Police have fielded dozens of scam reports. Last week, state Sen. William Brownsberger sent a release warning of a new scam–people getting text messages purported to be from MassDOT.
The following are a sample of the scam calls received by Belmont Police in December and January.
Jan. 7
A Plymouth resident who runs a realty office on Trapelo Road said he wrote seven to eight business checks and mailed them at Waverley Post Office on Dec. 7. Several vendors have notified him they never received a check for their services. Cambridge Savings Bank notified him that one of his business checks was washed and made out to a Taunton man for $13,900. The check number was also altered. It was never processed, so he wasn’t out the money.
Jan. 6
A Belmont resident responded to an email purportedly from Amazon, claiming an issue with his payment. After providing his Social Security number to update the payment, he realized he had been scammed.
A Belmont resident reported a suspicious email from an unknown individual who stated they had damaging information about the resident. The resident was told the information would be released if she did not send a Bitcoin payment of $1,950 to a Bitcoin wallet. Belmont Police advised her this was most likely a scam and to not respond.
Dec. 31
A Boston resident reported he was scammed out of $500 online. Using PayPal, he transferred $500 for materials and labor to make a T-shirt. The individual provided him with an email address, phone number and Instagram handle. The victim believed he was dealing with a legitimate designer because of the work he observed online. He sent the funds for a custom T-shirt to be fabricated and printed.
Dec. 21
Belmont resident reported fraud. His bank notified him that he owed $310 to Nashville Electric Service for a bill dating back to March 2022. He never heard of the company. The account was opened using his name, date of birth and Social Security number with an unknown Tennessee address.
Dec. 20
The owner of a Belmont business reported a check, written for $274, had been altered to read $21,000. Whoever altered the check tried to cash it but was denied by Citizens Bank.
A Belmont employee received a call from the town stating they received information from the state Department of Unemployment Assistance. The employee in question never filed for unemployment. She was able to get in touch with the state and let them know the claim was fraudulent. She also spoke to someone from Fidelity who said she tried to open an account there with her Social Security number, but it was blocked due to a fraud alert she put in place.
Dec. 17
A Connecticut resident wrote a check and gave it to his sister, a Belmont resident, to mail. She put the check in her mail slot. This past weekend, he was informed by his bank that someone attempted to cash the check at Rockland Trust Bank, but it was denied. They believe the envelope with the check was taken from the mail slot. They were advised to find out the location of the bank branch involved.
Dec. 13
A Belmont resident reported check fraud. She mailed four checks from her Eastern Bank checking account between Nov. 19 and Nov. 20 to pay bills. She mailed them in one of four mailboxes in Belmont. Bank of America contacted her on Dec. 12 to inform her one of the checks was cashed at a Bank of America branch for $9,500 and made out to Dylan Jacob Borr. She filed a claim with Eastern Bank and they cancelled her account.