ANDOVER — Vermont State Police say a 77-year-old woman has lost more than $18,000 in a phone scam.

Emily Kraft of Andover told police that a man called her, saying her grandson was in jail in New Orleans following an accident that had injured several people from Panama and caused property damage.

Investigators say the caller told Kraft she needed to wire $18,480 to Panama City, Panama, to have her grandson released from jail and pay for attorney and court fees. Another young man also got on the phone and identified himself as Kraft’s grandson, going so far as to call her “Grandy,” the name all her grandchildren call her.

Officials say the woman wired the money, but later discovered her grandson hadn’t been in an accident or in jail.