In amongst the daily mayhem and madness it can be easy to forget the human ties that bind us all together.
Each and every one of us could use a benevolent stranger looking out for us at some point in our lives, as one California senior found out this week when she chose the right way to get to the bank.
For Roseville taxi driver Raj Singh it seemed just another regular job when he collected a 92-year-old woman from her home in Sun City to take her to the bank.
But as the two got chatting in the cab, Singh learnt the reason for the trip.
The woman told him she owed the IRS $25,000 and needed to go to send the money off and settle the debt, according to a report by the Roseville Police Dept.
Singh rightly smelt a rat and suggested it sounded like a scam, but his passenger didn’t believe him at first.
Only after he “pleaded with the woman to reconsider” did she agree to call in at Roseville police station to check with an officer.
Sure enough, the officer convinced her that it was indeed a scam, and so she decided not to pay up and let Singh take her home.
Police heaped praise on the taxi driver for ensuring his passenger wasn’t swindled to the tune of $25k.
“Raj could have just taken his customer to her stop and not worried about her wellbeing,” they said. “He took time from his day and had the great forethought to bring the almost-victim to the police station for an official response.”
Singh received a $50 gift card from Roseville PD and Roseville Crime Stoppers as a thank you for his efforts.
Tax scams are on the rise, so it’s worth checking the IRS’s official advice on the many tricks con artists try to play. We can’t all rely on a friendly cabby to save the day!
 | Roseville, California |
|---|---|
| Location: | 17 miles northeast of Sacramento |
| Population: | 139,117 |
| Median Household Income: | $84,105 |
| Quirky Fact: | Roseville is the birthplace of Brat Pack actress Molly Ringwald, best known for her roles in 80s teen comedies such as Sixteen Candles (1984) and The Breakfast Club (1985). |