Taxi Driver Saves Elderly Woman $25K by Thwarting Phone Scam

A taxi driver in Roseville, California, recently rescued a senior citizen from falling victim to a phone scam.

When Rajbir Singh picked up a 92-year-old passenger who told him she was headed to the bank to withdraw $25,000 to send to the IRS, he knew something was not right, according to CNN.

Singh tried to reason with her and warned that is was more than likely just a criminal’s ploy to get her money.

He even drove to a police station to convince her that withdrawing the money was not a good idea.

“I am an honest guy, and these are old people. They need help,” he commented, adding, “It just made sense.”

The woman told him someone claiming to be from the IRS had called her and requested the money. However, when Singh asked if the person was a family member, she said nothing.

The woman then agreed to let Singh redial the number in hopes of finding out the truth.

“We called this number again and I asked the man, ‘Do you know this lady?’ He said no. I knew something was wrong,” the cab driver recalled.

When the man hung up on him and blocked his calls, Singh was sure it was a trick.

Despite his efforts, the woman still did not believe him, so he took her to the Roseville Police Station where an officer explained that the phone call was in fact a scam.

Tuesday, the department shared the story on its Facebook page and praised the cab driver for his concern toward the elderly woman.

“We love this story because several times throughout, Raj could have just taken his customer to her stop and not worried about her wellbeing,” the post read.

Following the incident, Singh was called back to the department and presented with a $50 gift card as a thank you.

“His quick thinking saved a senior citizen $25,000 and for that, we greatly appreciate his efforts,” the post concluded.

Elderly people are more likely to become victims of fraud because they may have a “nest egg” or excellent credit that makes them targets for con artists, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) website.

“People who grew up in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s were generally raised to be polite and trusting. Con artists exploit these traits, knowing that it is difficult or impossible for these individuals to say ‘no’ or just hang up the telephone,” the site read.

“Older Americans are less likely to report a fraud because they don’t know who to report it to, are too ashamed at having been scammed, or don’t know they have been scammed,” the agency concluded.