Iowa Cabbie Saves Passenger From Scam

The IRS will not call you by telephone directly to solicit payment.

The knowledge of that simple fact on someone else's part, even if not her own, saved a West Des Moines woman $40,000.

KCCI says Cab driver Scott Kilmer was driving the unnamed 83-year-old to the bank. Business as usual, until they started conversing and the woman told him she was on the way to the bank to get money following a phone call from the "IRS" stating she had a relative out east who needed it.

Kilmer reported it to the Iowa Attorney General's office immediately, knowing such a call would not be legitimate, and saved his passenger from a costly mistake.

Scams like this are the number 1 problem addressed by the attorney general's office among people over 60, said spokesperson Lynn Hicks. A quick-thinking cab driver who knew better, even if his passenger didn't, was a hero who saved the day.