Pair hailed for helping elderly Schaumburg woman avoid scam

Schaumburg police are praising the intervention of a taxi driver and a currency exchange employee for helping a senior woman avoid becoming the victim of a financial scam.

Sgt. John Nebl said the department could formally honor the pair in the future.

Their actions came earlier this week after the Schaumburg woman received a call from a man claiming to be a police officer. The man, Schaumburg police said, told the woman her granddaughter needed money to get out of jail.

A girl then came on the phone claiming to be the granddaughter, police said. She begged the woman to send her money and not to tell her parents.

The phony police officer came back on the line and advised the woman that a cab would shortly arrive to take her to her bank and then Western Union so she could wire the money. He also advised her not to tell anyone about what she was doing.

When a taxi arrived at the woman’s home, the driver took her first to her bank and then to a currency exchange. The woman at first told him she could not discuss her business, but eventually revealed that her granddaughter might be in trouble overseas and needed money sent to her.

The cabdriver, believing this could be a scam, accompanied the woman into the currency exchange and discussed the situation with a clerk. The currency exchange worker also suspected a scam was under way and refused to make the transaction.

The taxi driver returned the woman to her home, where she contacted her daughter and then police.

Schaumburg police say such scams work by tugging on potential victims’ heartstrings, and advise residents never to withdraw money at the request of a stranger or send it to someone they don’t know.