In this world, you have people who live an honest life and work hard for what they have. You also have people who don’t work hard for what they have and cut corners and commit dishonest scams that prey on the elderly because they are unaware of these scams. Unfortunately, that’s what happened when a Walmart cashier received money from Cecil Rogers.
It was around Christmas time of last year and Rogers was looking forward to spending it with his grandchildren at his Elmwood Place home. He got a call from someone claiming to be one of them and the voice said, “Papaw, this is your oldest grandson. I’m in trouble,” reported WCPO News. Apparently, the “grandson” was in a car accident where he hit a woman’s car who was seven months pregnant. Rogers says that the grandson also mentioned that they charged him with drunk driving and was being held in jail.
According to Rogers, once his grandson was finished talking, he put a lawyer on the phone. The lawyer instructed Rogers to go to a local Walmart and make a direct store to store money transfer of $2,300 which would pay his bail bond. Rogers adds that the lawyer said he was going to try and get his grandson out so he could drive home.
In most cases, this is where a scam story ends with yet another senior being scammed. But this is not one of those stories because the cashier Rogers went to was Audrella Taylor. She told reporters that she immediately suspected that Rogers was being set up when he told her that somebody was in jail and he got a call that he needed to send $2,000. She adds that she told Rogers, “I’m not going to let you send that money. I think you are being scammed.”
After refusing to send the money, Taylor instructed Rogers to go home and call his grandchildren and ask if they’re alright. WCPO News reports that there was no car crash and Roger’s grandson was safe at college. Taylor says that one of the red flags she spotted from Roger’s story is that his daughter was not contacted yet. She says that if a son was in need of help, the mother or father would be the first ones to be contacted before the grandfather.
The manager of the Walmart, Dominic Gross, congratulated Taylor on her quick thinking. Because of this incident, cashiers at this location are now being trained to spot warning signs that someone is transferring money or buying high amounts of gift cards as part of a scam, says WCPO News.
Rogers was nothing but thankful for Taylor’s quick thinking and ability to spot a scam. He adds that “he doesn’t have much,” and hopes that people let their older relatives know about the grandparent scam.
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