indica News Bureau-
Indian American cab driver, prevented an elderly woman from getting duped of $25,000 with his presence of mind and helpful nature. The cabbie took the woman to the police station and narrated the incident, where the officers officially warned her of the fraud that could have happened.
Rajbir Singh, owner of Roseville Cab in California, picked up a 92-year-old woman in Roseville, California, two weeks ago. She demanded to go to the bank as she wished to withdraw money to settle a debt with the IRS. Upon hearing her story, Singh instinctively knew that someone was scamming the elderly woman, pretending to be from the IRS and demanding $25,000 from her.
He asked the woman to narrate the whole incident and she told him that someone had called her and asked for the money. When Singh questioned her if the caller was a family member, the woman had no answer.
“I am an honest guy, and these are old people. They need help,” Singh, the owner of Roseville Cab, told CNN on Thursday. “It just made sense.”
Singh pleaded with the woman to reconsider, saying he thought this could be a scam. Singh even detoured to a police station to help convince his passenger not to withdraw her money.
Trying to convince her that the caller was a fraud, Singh requested the woman to call back on the number to get to the bottom of things.
“We called this number again and I asked the man, ‘Do you know this lady?’ He said no,” Singh said. “I knew something was wrong.”
When Singh pressed the man, saying the woman was 92 years old and she was nervous, the man hung up on him. After repeated calls back, Singh said the number blocked them, CNN reported.
Despite that, Singh said the woman still didn’t believe him, so he came up with another idea.
Happy at the quick thinking and concern for the passenger, the Roseville Police Station appreciated Singh’s efforts on social media.
“Raj pleaded with the woman to reconsider so they agreed to stop by the Roseville Police Station to ask an officer,” the police department said in a post on Facebook.
Singh recounted the whole story to the police officers who then told the woman how she could have been duped of $25,000 had the good man not helped her out.
“We love this story because several times throughout, Raj could have just taken his customer to her stop and not worried about her well being,” Roseville police said in the Facebook post. “He took time from his day and had the great forethought to bring the almost-victim to the police station for an official response.”
Roseville police said Singh deserved a “great citizen award” in a statement.
“His quick thinking saved a senior citizen $25,000 and for that, we greatly appreciate his efforts,” police said.
Singh took his passenger home, her bank account saved. A week after the potential scam was thwarted, Singh said he got a call asking him to come back to the station.
Officers gave Singh a $50 gift card to thank him for what he did.
