A Boston man has been charged by Westport police with attempting to scam a local couple.

Hector Arias-Guzman, 28, of 20 Mallard St., Boston, faces charges of conspiracy and attempted larceny after a Westport couple reported receiving a phone call from someone fraudulently identifying himself as their son.

The unknown caller told them he needed cash for bond after allegedly being arrested by police following a car accident in Boston. The man told the would-be victims that he was texting at the time of the crash, was in the hospital and needed bail money to avoid being sent to jail.

The caller then put another man on the phone who identified himself as a public defender. He told the would-be victims that their son needed $25,000 within the hour. After they told him they could not get that amount of cash in an hour, the caller said he could be released for $10,000. Again the couple informed the caller that $10,000 cash in one hour was impossible, and the caller told them that $6,000 cash was acceptable.

Suspecting fraud, the couple went to the Westport Police Station to report the incident. Detective Sergeant Bryan McCarthy spoke with the couple and recognized the name given as the public defender, Mark Cohen, as well as the cell number, was consistent with a previous scam that occurred a week earlier. He told the couple to return home and let police know if the fraudster called back with instructions for the money delivery. The alleged fraudster did call back, and told the couple that a LYFT driver would be arriving to collect the money for delivery to Boston. The couple alerted police, and the LYFT vehicle arrived.

Det. Sgt. McCarthy assembled a surveillance team, which included detectives from area departments, and followed the LYFT driver to an address in Taunton, where an unknown male approached the ride share vehicle. Upon seeing McCarthy and other plain-clothes officers approaching, he fled on foot. McCarthy gave chase on foot and apprehended the man, later identified as Guzman. Police said he had previously been apprehended by Customs and Border Patrol for entering the United States illegally.

The Westport Police Department advises residents to be vigilant for phone scams. No legitimate business, hospital, police station, or judicial/court department accepts prepaid gift cards, phone cards or cash in an envelope delivered by any ride share company for services rendered.