Woman, 81, just couldn't resist scam

Dave Puckett knew immediately it was a scam.

Puckett, who drives a cab for a local company, was dispatched to pick up an 81-year-old woman from her east bench home. The woman said she urgently needed to go to a nearby grocery store so she could get a money order for a company that promised her $225,000 if she sent them $700.

"I immediately said, 'This isn't right,'" said Puckett, who recognized the scam from a similar incident he saw on the news a few years ago.

The cab driver called the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office, which had a deputy meet them in the parking lot of the store.

On the way there, Puckett said the elderly woman told him she had been receiving calls every 15 minutes from the alleged company telling her to "hurry up" and send the money.

"They were using some real heavy pressure tactics," he said.

Once they arrived at the store, Puckett and the deputy tried to talk the woman out of getting the money order.

"We assured her this was a scam. I told her she would never see (her money) again. We tried to tell her it was just no good," Puckett said.

The woman agreed not to get the money order, and Puckett drove her home.

Over the weekend, however, the woman found another ride to the store, got the money order and sent the alleged company $700.

"I think people who do these scams are pretty low," Puckett said. "I'm just wondering what type of people could do something like this?"

Despite the efforts of Puckett and the sheriff's office, the woman apparently still believed she was going to get some money in return.

"She insists that it's a valid company. She truly believes that," said Salt Lake County Sheriff's Sgt. Rosie Rivera. "She asked our detective, 'Are you a gambler? Well, I am. And the only way to win big is to bet big.' "

Investigators, however, fear the woman and many like her will simply end up losing big.

"Once that money is gone, we never get it back," said Francine Giani, director of the Utah Division of Consumer Protection.

Elderly residents are the prime targets for telemarketing and mail-order scams. About 60 percent of sweepstakes-scam victims are 60 years of age or older, according to the U.S. Postal Service.