Chaverim of Rockland successfully prevented a local woman from falling victim to a sophisticated phone scam. The incident, which began around 9 a.m., involved fraudsters impersonating Amazon representatives and IRS agents, nearly costing the victim thousands of dollars.
This is how it played out: The victim got a call from someone claiming to be an Amazon representative, alleging fraudulent activity on her account. The situation quickly escalated as the scammers then posed as IRS agents, threatening the woman with arrest if she didn't comply with their demands.
Frightened by these threats, the victim withdrew $5,000 from her bank account and cashed a check for an additional $800.
Following the scammers' instructions, the woman took a taxi to a CVS Pharmacy where she purchased $2,000 worth of gift cards. When the CVS cashier refused to allow further purchases, the scammers directed her to a 7-Eleven on College Road to continue buying gift cards.
When her husband was unable to reach her, grew concerned. Recalling a similar scam reported just weeks earlier, he suspected his wife might be in danger. He contacted a Chaverim volunteer, who sent the call to a dispatcher.
The Chaverim dispatcher reached out to the victim using their hotline number. The woman only realized she was being scammed when the dispatcher spoke to her in Yiddish, confirming they were indeed from Chaverim. She was urged to stay on the line while Chaverim members were dispatched to meet her at the 7-Eleven.
Chaverim members quickly wnt to the 7-Eleven where they called the Ramapo Police Department, and successfully stopped the woman from handing over the remaining $3,800 to the scammers.
This scheme was only prevented because of the dedicated Chaverim members.
Monsey Scoop contributed to this article.