A vigilant onlooker in Texas prevented an elderly woman from falling victim to a scam that might have cost her tens of thousands of dollars by calling the police.
When Myndi Jordan noticed the woman quickly stuffing $100 notes into a Bitcoin ATM at the White Settlement gas station on Thursday, she said she sensed something wasn’t right.
“You are breaking the law with what you are doing!” Therefore, it is my problem!
Jordan stated, “She’s all hunched over trying to jam $100 bills in.” “Ma’am, do you know these individuals?” I asked, was able to hear the person on the phone, and she responded negatively.
Jordan claimed that although she thought the 80-year-old woman was a victim of fraud, she was unable to convince her to quit inserting cash into the machine. According to her, she had already deposited $23,000 of her own money into the machine.
Jordan continued, “The woman was just extremely, truly scared that she was holding $44,000 in cash.” “Ma’am, I believe you’re falling for a scam,” I stated. She responded, “No, no, no.” I have to return this to the bank.
When that failed, Jordan called the police, and upon his arrival at the petrol station, Sgt. James Stewart conducted a conversation with the woman. She told him that she had received instructions from a Chase Bank employee to transfer her funds to a Bitcoin account.
KCPQ-TV was able to collect footage from the body camera during the interaction, which it then used in a news program.
Stewart remarked, “This woman was only a few years older than my own mom, and I couldn’t picture someone doing this to her.”
As shown in the video, Stewart yells at the con artist after stealing the woman’s phone.
Stewart tells the con artist, “She is not clicking on anything!” “Are you truly up for this fight with me?!”
The man on the other end of the call adds, “It’s not your problem.”
It is, in fact, my problem! You’re breaching the law with your actions! That puts it in my lap!” he responds.
“Getting my hands on him would have been the only thing that could have improved.”
According to the officer, the woman was just a few seconds away from losing thousands of dollars that she had sent to the con artist.
“I felt agitated. Stewart expressed his agitation not only as a police officer but also as a person.
The customer will get her money back after successfully reporting fraud to the firm that operates the cryptocurrency machine.
Honestly, it has nothing to do with vulnerability. Stewart explained, “It has to do with the fear and harassment that these people inflict upon them. “Getting my hands on him would have been the only way to improve the situation. I wish I could have put him in jail.”
Stewart claimed that the woman gave him a hug and expressed gratitude for his assistance following the event.
Experts warn that con artists are able to impersonate phone numbers, so anyone suspicious of a scam should hang up on the call and contact the business using a verified number. They said that institutions will not request cryptocurrency payments from individuals and advised against providing personal information to strangers over the phone.
White Settlement is a Fort Worth suburb home to roughly 18,000 people.
