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Sam Penrod Reporting We have a warning for you tonight involving a scam that is circulating in Utah again, and again it's targeting the elderly. A good Samaritan taxi cab driver helped prevent the 81-year old woman from sending $700 to claim what was supposed to be $250,000.
It all started Thursday night when cab driver Dave Puckett was sent to pick up the woman at her home, so she could run an errand. On the way to the grocery store the woman explained she was planning to get a $700 money order and send it to a company, to cover the paperwork so they could send her $250,000 that she'd won. The driver recognized it as a scam and called sheriff's deputies.
Dave Puckett, Cab Driver: "These scam artists know which buttons to push to get this elderly lady to do this. It is really disgusting."
Sgt. Rosie Rivera: "It is a company out of Canada that is not legit, and they tend to target the elderly and senior citizens."
But the scam operators kept calling the woman and police say that two days later she gave in and sent the money and is apparently still convinced she's won $250,000.
Because this scam is common, authorities are warning people to watch out for it--and family members of the elderly should take precautions to keep their loved ones from being victimized. Overall as they always say, if the deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
