‘It’s sickening’: Florida seniors saved from money-stealing scam thanks to new technology

MICCO, Fla. – Rip-off victims now have a brand new instrument serving to crack down on scammers and get individuals their a reimbursement. 

A latest rip-off occurred in Micco, Florida, and began with a telephone name. An aged couple of their late 80s and early 90s was advised a member of the family was in hassle and wanted cash, in order that they fell for this widespread rip-off – usually referred to this because the “grandparents rip-off.” The couple ended up sending what may have been their life financial savings to the scammer. 

Most tales like this finish with the cash gone, however now with new expertise created by Uber engineers, these victims have an opportunity at preventing again. “We simply turned the alert on, and one popped up,” mentioned Vince Lisi who’s the Head of World Safety and Investigations for Uber.

Lisi’s staff has been monitoring these scams for some time now the place a scammer will use ride-share providers to ship a driver and decide up the cash the sufferer’s been tricked into handing over. Uber engineers simply created a brand new system to trace suspicious rides that may very well be scams, and the primary one the expertise discovered occurred in Brevard County.

“It’s sickening what they’re doing,” Lisi added. “If we’re in a position to help regulation enforcement and cease it from occurring and even assist regulation enforcement resolve these crimes, that’s what we’re going to do.”

How does Uber intercept these scams? The corporate gained’t reveal the precise equation in order to not tip off the scammers, however it’s a mix of how the trip was requested, the place it’s going, the truth that it’s not for driving individuals however a bundle, and extra that set-off alarm bells on this scenario.

On this case, the Uber driver received a name whereas he was within the automotive mid-delivery with the bundle and was advised to cease instantly and drive straight to the closest police station. “On this case, we had been profitable in stopping that cash drop and truly getting that cash again to the victims,” mentioned Tod Goodyear, the general public data officer for the Brevard County Sheriff’s Workplace.

By intercepting the rip-off so early on, deputies did get the couple’s a reimbursement. “With it occurring on the entrance finish and the ride-share firm contacting us on the entrance finish, it’s going to actually make it quite a bit simpler for us to cease the cash from truly attending to the dangerous man,” Goodyear concluded.

Whereas there nonetheless isn’t an arrest on this particular rip-off case, deputies are nonetheless investigating and have extra to go off of since they discovered of the crime so early.