Savvy teller, police help save Vermont senior from scam

A phone scam that nearly swindled a senior citizen out of thousands of dollars was stopped by police in Williston. And thanks to some quick action from a local credit union, the Vermonter didn't lose a cent.

Police were called in early Wednesday afternoon to pursue an older gentleman who withdrew $27,000 from his local credit union. Investigators believed he had been caught in a phone scam.

"Williston Police dispatch received a phone call from one of the banks here in Williston, letting us know that a customer had just been in the bank, had been acting fairly suspicious, and withdrew a large amount of cash," Williston Police Ofc. Travis Trybulski said.

"Our team knew this member, knows this member and we know people's habits. We can tell when something is up," said Rachel Feldman, a public relations specialist at the Vermont State Employees Credit Union.

After getting off the phone, the police mobilized and found the elderly Vermonter in the Walmart parking lot, not far from the credit union. Officers arrived just in time to stop the victim from converting the cash to gift cards. And after a short conversation, police intercepted two separate calls from the scammers.

"When I was on the phone with them, they... obviously did not give me any information. I asked, you know, what's your last name. They would avoid the question and come back with a question of their own," Trybulski said.

Both the credit union and police warn Vermonters to stay aware and level-headed when contacted by scammers.

"There are some signs that you can look out for and our staff did look out for them. And as a result, we were able to determine that this was not something in the ordinary for that member," Feldman said.

"No government entity, Social Security office, law enforcement, IRS is going to call you up and tell you to send them money," Trybulski said. "It's not gonna happen."

If you know anything about this scam or have been a victim of a scam, contact the police.