Friends, strangers help woman who lost $18K in scam

After a con man swindled her out of nearly $18,000 in savings last year, 95-year-old Barbara Hinckley figured she would never be able to replace what she lost.

“When I realized I’d been scammed, I kept telling myself that I was stupid to have fallen for it,” said Hinckley, who lives in Auburn, Maine. “In the end, all I had left in my account was $8.75. My goodness, I should have known better. It was a nightmare.”

Hinckley considers herself lucky, though. Thanks to the kindness of friends, neighbors and strangers who rallied and held a spaghetti dinner earlier this month to replace her lost savings, her account was boosted by $18,000. A grateful Hinckley has a message for others who fall victim to scam artists: “Don’t be embarrassed or ashamed — tell somebody,” she said. “By talking about it, you might help prevent it from happening to somebody else.”

Hinckley still drives, and, until recently, she made regular trips to the gym. She has lived on her own for the past four decades.

“I never dreamed that something like this would happen to me,” she said.

On July 9, Hinckley was elated to pick up her phone and hear a man identify himself as “Dave Sayer” with the Publishers Clearing House Prize Patrol. He told Hinckley that she had won second place in the sweepstakes, entitling her to $2.5 million and a luxury Mercedes sedan.

“Sayer” — the con man used the name of the real prize announcer — began calling Hinckley regularly, she said, and, after the fourth call, he told her there were some fees associated with her prize winnings.

A few hundred here, a couple thousand there, and it wasn’t long before her life savings was depleted.

Hoping to help other seniors, Hinckley decided to go public with her story and gave an interview to a reporter for the Lewiston Sun Journal. People were outraged by what happened to her, she said.

On Jan. 8, more than 400 people paid $5 each to attend the fundraiser at Auburn Middle School. Most people gave more than $5, with some writing checks for more than $1,000.

RON MCGILL / ZOO MIAMI VIA AP Yam Yam huddles with her two pups, born Jan. 18, in a meerkat habitat at the zoo in Miami.