A 17-year-old teenager is accused of attempting to scam an elderly man by escorting him to three different banks to withdraw significant amounts of money, a scheme that was thwarted thanks to the vigilance of a bank employee.
In Jacksonville, Florida, a sharp-eyed teller at a local bank played a pivotal role in preventing a senior from losing tens of thousands of dollars to fraud.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office intervened on Wednesday, March 18, following a report of suspicious activity at a Vystar Credit Union branch in the Oakleaf Plantation area.
Officers arrived at the bank after receiving a report of a 79-year-old man attempting to withdraw $13,000. The substantial amount and the man’s senior age prompted bank employees to question him to ensure he was not being exploited. It was during this inquiry that they uncovered it was not his first significant withdrawal attempt that day.
The arrest report reveals that the teenager initially approached the elderly man at his Murray Hill home, proposing to spray his driveway for a fee. Given that the man could not drive, the teenager offered to transport him to the bank to make the necessary withdrawals. Prior to police involvement, the victim had already been persuaded to withdraw a total of $10,000 from two other Vystar branches.
An officer noted that the elderly man appeared to exhibit signs of dementia, struggling to recall details of the situation and the amount of money he had agreed to pay.
Officers managed to pull over the teen suspect as he was driving away from the branch, with his 12-year-old brother in the backseat, according to the report. Police also determined he was driving on a suspended driver’s permit from South Carolina.
The $10,000 was returned to the victim, and the teen was charged with exploiting an elderly or disabled adult — a 2nd-degree felony — and various license violations.
