Hero Bystander STOPS Elderly Woman From Sending $40,000 To Scammer

July 9, 2024

A quick-thinking good Samaritan and a North Texas police sergeant heroically prevented an elderly woman from losing $40,000 to a scammer.

Credit: FOX 26 Houston

Body camera footage provided by White Settlement police shows the actions taken to keep the victim from losing her money. The elderly woman had been convinced by a scammer, posing as a member of her bank's security team, to deposit her cash into a Bitcoin ATM. The scammer had been calling her all week, threatening her and instructing her to send the money.

The scammer even arranged for an Uber to pick the woman up from her retirement community and take her to the bank. She withdrew $40,000 and was on her way to make the transaction when a vigilant citizen stepped in.

Myndi Jordan, who was stopping for gas and cash at the Chevron off I-30 and Cherry Lane on Thursday, noticed the elderly woman with wads of hundred-dollar bills in her purse. Sensing something was wrong, she called 911.

"I noticed an elderly lady feeding thousands of dollars into the cryptocurrency machine. And the people on the phone sound like foreigners, and they are FaceTiming to make sure she is putting the money in the machine," Jordan said.

Jordan waited on scene until Police Sgt. James Stewart arrived. Sgt. Stewart instructed the elderly woman to stop inserting money and took the phone from her.

"She never hit the submit button," Stewart explained to Fox 26 Houston. "He kept saying, 'Hit the 'I'm done' button.' If she did that, the money would've been gone."

Sgt. Stewart expressed his frustration over the incident.

"I was irritated not just as a police officer but as a human being," he said.

Thanks to the quick actions of Myndi Jordan and Sgt. James Stewart, the scammer was thwarted, and the elderly woman's $40,000 was saved.

Watch the video below.