The elderly are often the victims of an innumerable amount of scams and cons. For those whose intention is to unjustly steal from others, they seem to be an easy target, especially since senior citizens usually don’t keep up with the latest technology.
These scammers can coerce and strong-arm senior citizens into surrendering large sums of money, and they may not even realize they’ve been duped until it’s almost too late.
Such a case was unfolded in Marlow, a small township just outside of London, where one elderly man emptied out his entire savings account.
Barry Stone received a phone call from scammers claiming to be police investigating “bank fraud”
The scam artists wanted Barry to withdraw all of his money from his bank account and send the money to them. They were supposedly going to check his money for fingerprints and send it back when they were done.
He was told to put the money in a box and send it in a taxi cab. If the driver asked the 78-year-old man what was in the box, he was told to say it was aftershave for his son.
Something didn’t sit right with Barry about sending the cash along. “I didn’t sleep afterwards and I couldn’t eat at all, it was such a lot of money,” Barry told the Daily Mail.
However, he did as he was told, because he didn’t want any trouble. But the incredible sum of £12,000, or approximately $16,091 in US currency, was all of the money he had to his name. He couldn’t afford to lose it.
Barry put the money in a box and attempted to hand it off to taxi driver Izy Rashid, who immediately recognized the scam
When the cabbie arrived, Barry told driver Izy Rashid what was going on. Rashid instantly recognized the request as a scam, and returned the box. The two called police immediately.
When police arrived, they filled out a report and confirmed to Barry Stone that he would have never seen his money again. Barry says he would have had to cancel his vacation to Thailand later this year as a result.
Police explained that these kinds of scams are very common, and they typically attempt to prey on the elderly. Barry is lucky that Rashid answered the call and saved him a world of trouble.
After filling out reports, the two responding officers drove Barry back to the bank to deposit the money into his account again.
Rashid returned Barry’s money to him, and the elderly man said he is “very, very relieved”
Izy Rashid you deserve a round of applause Thank God you stepped in a stopped this poor man from loosing his life savings Thank You ?? pic.twitter.com/gshpQpofsT
— Flossy 56 (@56Flossy) October 6, 2017
Barry is a retired cabinet maker living off his savings. He has lived alone after his wife passed away 12 years ago, and so he would have been in a major bind had Rashid not intervened.
He admits that he thought something was fishy about the scam, but didn’t think that it was a pure lie.
“You just believe them sometimes, don’t you? You think you’re helping people out,” he said.
Barry is endlessly thankful to Rashid, and described him as a “wonderful man.” He added that the two were now “very, very good friends.”
Credit: Epoch Times
