Support NeoGAF

[RustyNails]

Taxi driver returns £12,000 to pensioner who was duped into withdrawing life savings

A pensioner has been reunited with his life savings after a taxi driver realised the man had been the victim of a con.

Fraudsters called Barry Stone and pretended to be police investigating bank fraud, telling him to withdraw money from his bank account.

The 78-year-old from Marlow withdrew £12,000 and then sent the cash to London by taxi where, he was told, the notes were to be checked for fingerprints.

But taxi driver Izy Rashid realised the elderly man was being conned so returned the savings to Mr Stone’s address.

As reported by the Daily Mail, Mr Stone said: “I didn’t sleep afterwards and I couldn’t eat at all, it was such a lot of money.

The widowed father-of-one added: “I feel so relieved now, I can have something to eat, no problem. I’m very, very relieved.”

Speaking about the scammers Mr Stone said: “You just believe them sometimes, don’t you? You think you’re helping people out.”

After withdrawing the money, Mr Stone was told to put the money in a box and give it to a taxi driver.

He was told to say it was aftershave for his son but Mr Rashid saw through the scam and called the police.

Mr Stone had his money returned to him and described the cabbie as a “wonderful man” and they were now “very, very good friends”.

Taxi driver:

 

[Occam]

What amazes me is that those scams actually work.

 

[Lanrutcon]

Preying on the elderly. God that pisses me off.

 

[Volimar]

What amazes me is that those scams actually work.

Some folks are too trusting, some just don't know any better. Glad he got his money back.

 

[Occam]

Preying on the elderly. God that pisses me off.

Maybe banks should add additional checks if persons above a certain age suddenly want to withdraw all their money (or a large percentage).

 

[ClosingADoor]

Good job by the taxi driver!

Scum trying to con old people out of money.

Maybe banks should add additional checks if persons above a certain age suddenly withdraw all their money (or a large percentage).

I am kind of amazed he could withdraw 12.000 like that. At my bank you can only withdraw 1250 in cash a week, for more you got to give them a call.

 

[Flying Toaster]

What amazes me is that those scams actually work.

The work is that either they are trusting or scared. It is absolutely disgusting.

 

[ElectricBlanketFire]

Hero taxi driver.

 

[dc89]

What amazes me is that those scams actually work.

In my old technical support job I used to see all kinds of scams, less nefarious as this but still. People believed Microsoft were calling them as their computer had a virus.

 

[Occam]

The work is that either they are trusting or scared. It is absolutely disgusting.

I actually keep warning elderly relatives of mine about these scams whenever I hear about them.

 

[Permanently A]

Phone scammers are truly scum.

 

[peanutbutterlatte]

Taxi drivers can be real arseholes but I’ve generally found that the nice ones are real salt of the earth people. What an absolute gem.

My grandparents have been successfully and unsuccessfully scammed over the years, makes you ponder the humanity of the people behind it.

 

[liquidtmd]

Maybe banks should add additional checks if persons above a certain age suddenly want to withdraw all their money (or a large percentage).

That's the thing that needs reviewing, such checks and verifications are in place already at all major banks.

Cashiers receive training for exactly this shit

 

[Queen Vulpix]

Scammers preying on the vulnerable, disgusting... So happy to hear this has a happy ending!

 

[Moff]

how exactly were the scammer supposed to get the money?

 

[HomerSimpson-Man]

Awesome dude.

Older folks are the main prey for scammers all the time.

The work is that either they are trusting or scared. It is absolutely disgusting.

Exactly, it's why they are constantly targeted.

 

[Lagamorph]

how exactly were the scammer supposed to get the money?

The taxi was literally going to deliver it to them.

Good on that taxi driver for realising what was going on and taking the money back, it's great to hear a happy ending to a story like this for a change.

 

[sirap]

Damn Rashid's beard is boss.

 

[Stormthehouse]

Glad to hear that, spend too much of my job hearing people getting scammed or hearing about scams that almost happened to them.

One of the worst is when someone gets info about a relative off Facebook and they call saying they're representing them but need money to post bail.

Hard to tell though sometimes, can get pretty far along without the alarm bells ringing and i'd like to think my bullshit sensor is pretty sensitive.

 

[WhateverItTakes]

What amazes me is that those scams actually work.

It doesn't help that some older people are just starting to get memory problems/Alzheimers. My dad had to unravel a bunch of bullshit some con men convinced my grandad to sign up to.

 

[IISANDERII]

So they have the delivery address so I hope that means they’ll catch these fuckers

 

[FyreWulff]

In the US, that money would have been taken by the police under civil forfeiture for being involved in a crime, even though it was the victim of the crime's money

 

[BuddyTheBestPuppy]

Good man!

 

[GhaleonEB]

What amazes me is that those scams actually work.

A variation of the Nigerian prince one scammed my wife's grandmother out of her savings. She had nothing left when she passed away. Easy to laugh at, but some people do fall for them for whatever reason.

Good for the cab driver. Glad he got his money back, too.

 

[grumble]

What amazes me is that those scams actually work.

They often target the elderly, as they're frequently not at their best mentally. A lot of senior centres hold classes on how to recognize them, since they are very common.

 

[BuddyTheBestPuppy]

They often target the elderly, as they're frequently not at their best mentally. A lot of senior centres hold classes on how to recognize them, since they are very common.

They target my dad recently and he's a lawyer. I don't know how, but they called my mom using his cellphone number. Claimed to be cops, demanded a large sum of $$, my sister went straight to cops though.

 

[sfedai0]

Good to see decent people looking out for others. Also, that is a swanky looking taxi.

 

[Hari Seldon]

I hope they catch these bastards. What pure fucking scum.

 

[Robot Pants]

What a great guy for doing what he did.
I do hope the scammer dies in a jet fuel fire though

 

[FyreWulff]

They target my dad recently and he's a lawyer. I don't know how, but they called my mom using his cellphone number. Claimed to be cops, demanded a large sum of $$, my sister went straight to cops though.

It's laughably easy to cloak your number as someone else's. The protocol is basically "please don't fake your number".

 

[Radec]

Did they report the scammer to the police though? Since they got the address or name.

These fuckers need to go.

 

[Vincent Alexander]

Damn, that cab driver....heart of gold AND a fine ass beard? That's a winning combo.

 

[Hesemonni]

This taxi driver drives a S-class Mercedes it seems.