{"id":3730,"date":"2026-06-06T16:01:30","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T16:01:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=3730"},"modified":"2026-06-06T16:01:30","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T16:01:30","slug":"sedona-elder-fraud-thwarted-by-retired-cop-turned-uber-driver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=3730","title":{"rendered":"Sedona elder fraud thwarted by retired cop turned Uber driver"},"content":{"rendered":"

SEDONA, Ariz.<\/strong> – <\/span>A sophisticated scam targeting a Sedona<\/strong> woman in her 90s was thwarted just in the nick of time\u2014the criminals did not count on the unlikely hero who saved the day, an Uber driver.<\/p>

Read more Popular tower heaters sold online and at stores nationwide recalled over fire risk<\/a><\/p>

Yavapai County<\/strong> authorities say a vulnerable senior citizen in Sedona was moments away from losing everything to a cruel financial scam.<\/p>

But she was saved by an incredible stroke of luck, an Uber driver who pulled into her driveway by mistake, looking for a completely different passenger.<\/p>

<\/div>

What we know:<\/p>

It began with a high-pressure phone call. A woman in her 90s was told by someone claiming to be with Wells Fargo that her personal banking information had been compromised.<\/p>

“He just told me they opened an investigation because some of the personal information from the accounts had been hacked,” the victim said. “When I walked out to the mailbox, I hadn’t made it quite to the mailbox when Michael showed up.”<\/p>

But Michael was not there for her. He was an Uber driver who just happened to accept a ride request in the area for a passenger named “Sam.”<\/p>

When he arrived, he found the elderly woman walking toward his car with her walker, holding a bag and her phone looking isolated and confused.<\/p>

“I asked her, ‘Are you Sam?’ and she said, ‘No. Are you a courier?’ And I said, ‘No, I’m an Uber driver, I’m supposed to pick up a ride here,'” Michael said.<\/p>

Read more Target baby wipes recalled for serious bacteria risk<\/a><\/p>

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n

Michael, a former law enforcement officer who now drives for Uber, saved an elderly woman in Sedona, Arizona from being scammed.<\/span> <\/p> <\/div><\/div>

“That’s a scam. Don’t do it”<\/h2>

“I said, ‘You’re not being directed to give gift cards to somebody?’ And she was like, ‘I can’t speak to you about this, I have some kind of confidentiality that I have to follow,'” Michael said. “So I was like, ‘That’s a scam. Don’t do it.'”<\/p>

Fortunately for the victim, Michael was not just an Uber driver\u2014he is also a retired police officer. He recognized the warning signs immediately, grabbed the phone, and found the scammer had already hung up.<\/p>

“I think the good Lord sent him there to stop me from doing whatever I was doing,” the victim said. “I’ll be forever grateful that he was there. Angels are everywhere.”<\/p>

“I was happy to help her. Yeah, elderly people and children. I can’t stand them being victims,” Michael said.<\/p>

What you can do:<\/p>

Authorities are now using this close call to remind the public that legitimate banks will never send a courier to collect your cards or demand total secrecy.<\/p>

Read more Tyco agrees to $10M settlement over PFAS contamination in Wisconsin<\/a><\/p> <\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Sedona woman in her 90s is expressing gratitude after a retired police officer driving for Uber stopped a cruel financial scam that targeted her banking information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3728,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime-and-public-safety","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nSedona elder fraud thwarted by retired cop turned Uber driver - Houston Moving Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=3730\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sedona elder fraud thwarted by retired cop turned Uber driver - 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