From 2020 to 2021, about 59.4 million Americans lost money to phone scams amounting to 28.9 billion dollars.
Sadly, scammers victimize people from all walks of life, male and female, both young and old.
Many scammers pretend to be from the IRS collecting unpaid taxes or claiming that you won a prize. Fortunately, people are becoming more aware scams and can help others get out of this sticky situation.
This story is about a good-hearted person who helped a senior woman avoid getting scammed out of thousands of dollars.
East Idaho News’ segment Feel Good Friday features people in the community that deserve to be recognized for serving and helping others.
During this segment, reporter Nate Eaton shared an email the news team received from a local resident.
The email explained how a local business owner saved the sender’s mother from a scammer trying to steal $8,000 from her.
“I just wanted to let you know about an amazing, honest individual that saved my mom from financial disaster,” the first line of the email read.
She then recounted how her mom received a call from a phone solicitor who kept her on the phone for six hours, trying to extort $8,000 from her. He told her at first that she had won a prize, then twisted the story to make it seem that she owed him money.
Unfortunately, her mother fell for it and went to the bank to withdraw $8,000 in cash.
She then proceeded to Ship Pro in Ammon to follow the caller’s instructions to send the money via next-day air shipping, the most expensive shipping option offered by the store.
This is when store owner Dane Croft comes into the picture.
When he heard her request, he kindly asked her a few probing questions to learn more about her situation because the shipping option she wanted was not a common request. Croft soon realized that this potential customer was being scammed.
“Had it not been for his integrity, honesty, and just being a good person, my mom would have been financially devastated,” the email also included.
To thank Croft for helping a community member, Eaton surprised him at his Ship Pro store to give him some gift cards as part of Feel Good Friday.
When Eaton walked in the store, Croft immediately recognized him but didn’t know why he was there.
As soon as Eaton described the situation, Croft knew exactly what he was talking about, and he explained what happened from his perspective.
“You could tell she was frazzled, uncomfortable, and scared. She wanted to overnight this package she had packaged herself. She requested overnight, with early morning delivery, and a signature. It’s a very expensive service to do that,” Croft shared.
He said that the service she requested was the biggest red flag because it is usually done only for medical equipment.
When he realized she might be in trouble, he cleared the store and took her aside. Croft asked her questions including if she knew the person or if he was a family member.
The answers didn’t add up, so he knew she was being scammed. He assured her that what the person was saying on the phone was all fake.
Croft said she looked completely relieved after hearing that.
When the scammer called back, Croft answered the phone. “I will contact FedEx fraud, your address will be flagged in the system, shame on you, pick a new lifestyle,” he told the scammer.
Croft ended by warning other people against scammers.
“If somebody is calling you and they’ve gotten you freaked out, they’ve got you convinced you owe them money, if they’ve spun some story, just verify. Call around.” he said.
He reminded people that when they feel uncomfortable, feel free to hang up and take a minute to reset.
He also reminded viewers that the IRS would never call you about back taxes, and they would never ask to be paid through gift cards, which is a typical phone scam.
We’re grateful that there are people like Dane Croft who care more about their customers than just making money.
Watch the video below to see the whole story of how he saved a senior being scammed for $8,000!
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