GREENSBORO, N.C. — An 88-year-old helped police catch a scammer. The plan included a paper bag with what was supposed to be $20,000 of Darlene Upton's cash inside.
"I started talking to Darlene and said OK, we're going to go back to your house if you're OK with that. I'm going to come inside. You're going to call this guy, and we're going to walk you through it. She did a great job, " said Los Alamitos Police Officer Sam Smith.
The scammer told her to put the bag on her front porch. The police waited in Darlene's living room for the scammer to come to pick it up, and Darlene went upstairs.
"Boy, I'm glad he's answering the door and not me," said Darlene.
When the scammer showed up, the police walked out of the house and arrested him. It all ended as it should, but it could have ended very differently.
"I took the bait initially, and then when I realized what it was, the bank helped me call the police," said Darlene. This all started when Darlene called a number in an email. It was a fake email from what appeared to be PayPal.
The email said she had a refund and needed to call a number. She called. The scammer gets control of the computer and then convinces her to withdraw money from the bank.
If Darlene hadn't talked to people at the bank and called the police, she would have put $20,000 in that bag, and it would have been long gone.
The takeaway here is to talk about it. If you get yourself into a mess, if someone is pressuring you to withdraw money, get a gift card, or give them personal information, you need to talk about it with someone you trust.