A Lincoln woman is scammed out of $18,000 by a man claiming to be her grandson. Police say the suspect tricked the woman by using personal information and a story about being in an accident.

What started as a simple phone call ended up costing one Lincoln woman nearly $18,000.

Police say Monday an 87-year-old woman received a phone call from a man claiming to be her grandson.

She told officers she didn't recognize the voice, but the connection was bad, and she didn't question the man further because he knew her grandson's full name, where he lived and other personal information.

The man said he was in an accident while on vacation in Canada and needed help and not to tell "mom" because he was embarrassed.

Police say he then asked for help in the form of a money gram.

On Monday the woman sent $5,000.

She was called again on Tuesday and sent another $6,000 to help. Then, two hours later, another call and another $7,000 was sent.

Thursday the man called one more time asking for $8,000 more, but when she went to withdraw the money her bank wouldn't give it to her, saying they thought she was being scammed.

She called her family at that point and found out her grandson was safe in Omaha and had never been to Canada -- it was all a scam.

Police say this is a new scam and unique because of how much the scammer knew about the woman.

"It's very concerning that they knew a lot about the woman. Whether they knew it through an online genealogy site or by a recent obit, someone did do a lot of research to obtain the money,” said Officer Katie Flood, LPD.

The woman lost a total of $17,850. Police are still investigating.

Police say if anyone asks you to send money and you have any reason to doubt you should ask questions, and even call the person back to see if the emergency is real.