APPLETON — Appleton police are commending a quick-thinking postal worker who stepped in to prevent a senior from losing a significant amount of money in a scam.
According to a Facebook post from the Appleton Police Department, the postal worker believed a customer was likely in the process of being victimized by a scam, even though the citizen did not believe she was.
Sgt. Andy Miles was sent to assist, and while speaking with the potential victim, he quickly confirmed that she was being targeted by a scammer claiming to be with Publisher’s Clearinghouse.
When Miles arrived the scammer was still on the phone with the woman and was trying to manipulate her into giving them substantial amounts of cash from various locations, including asking her to open a new bank account in the process.
As soon as Miles attempted to speak with the scammer on the woman’s phone, the call was disconnected.
Luckily, thanks to the observant and nature of this USPS worker and Miles’ quick response, the woman never sent any of her already withdrawn money to the scammer.
Miles contacted a family member of the woman, as well as a representative of her financial institution, and made arrangements to deposit her money back into her banking account.
Miles than gave her a ride to a bank in a neighboring community and made sure her money was safely returned and her accounts remained secured.
Miles didn’t stop there, he then gave her a ride to a different bank where she had opened a new account per the scammer’s instructions.
Miles worked with that bank’s staff to close the account and make sure there were no other issues. With the help of a family member of the woman, additional arrangements were made to prevent any potential future fraudulent activity.
For more information on commonly reported scams, please see https://www.usa.gov/common-scams-frauds.
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