Houston rideshare drivers unknowingly help scam a 79-year-old woman out of $55K cash thinking she was bailing her son out of jail
Imagine getting a call no parent ever wants to receive. Your child is sitting in jail. The person on the other end says that your kid needs your help. They have to make bond and retain an attorney, the caller claims. It’ll be easy to sort out, they say, with the help of rideshare drivers. One Bryan, Texas woman faced this exact scenario earlier this year, and the man claiming to advocate for her son ended up scamming her out of $55,000 cash.
Scammer pretends elderly woman’s child is in jail
The 79-year-old woman wanted to help her son. So, the caller convinced her to gather up heaps of cash and put it all in different packages. A separate rideshare driver would come and pick each up.
The suspect provided the drivers’ names, physical traits, vehicle descriptions, and license plate numbers. With all the information, the Texas woman felt it must be a legitimate request.
She prepared boxes containing $18,500, $14,600, and $22,000 throughout a single day. A different rideshare driver picked up each package.
The scammer told rideshare drivers to bring the packages to a Houston Walmart parking lot
Police said they tracked surveillance video of the suspect hanging out inside a local Walmart. He allegedly instructed rideshare drivers to deliver the packages there, KBTX shared.
The drivers said they thought they were picking up people, but upon arriving at the woman’s home, they were given instructions to drive the boxes over to Walmart.
Authorities matched the license plate of the suspect’s vehicle to its registered owner, Manuel Jonas Paredes, a 32-year-old Houston man, and arrested him in March.
The suspect faces felony theft from an elderly person. A judge set bond at $150,000. None of the 79-year-old woman’s money was returned as of late March.
Please help your elderly or more “gullible” loved ones avoid scammers. Let them know if someone calls claiming their family member is in trouble, they should confirm the situation. Tell them to never send money over the phone, via text, or through an email request.
A rideshare driver would never formally handle cash transfers. These concepts, unfortunately, might not seem obvious to certain folks.
