A California taxi driver was awarded the Great Citizen Award for saving a 92-year-old woman from giving away her life savings to scammers posing as tax collectors, local police said.

Taxi driver Raj Singh was called to pick up the woman from her home in Sun City. On the way to her destination, the bank, she told Singh that she owed the U.S. Internal Revenue Service $25,000.

“This seemed very suspicious to Raj, so he suggested to the woman that this might be a scam,” Roseville police said in a Facebook post.

Singh said CNN the woman stated that someone from the IRS (Internal Revenue Service, the US version of the ATO) called her claiming she owed money and that he convinced her to let him call the number back.

“We called that number again and I asked the man, ‘Do you know this lady?’ He said no,” Singh said. “I knew something was wrong.”

He hung up – but the woman was still not convinced.

“She didn’t believe him. Raj pleaded with the woman to reconsider, so they agreed to stop by the Roseville Police Department and ask an officer,” the Roseville Police Department post said.

Singh asked to speak to an officer, who then spoke to the woman waiting in his taxi. Eventually, she believed she had been scammed and decided not to pay the scammer.

“We like this story because Raj could have easily dropped his customer off at her stop multiple times without having to worry about her well-being,” the post said.

“He took his time and had the foresight to bring the near-victim to the police station for an official statement.”

For his actions, Singh received a $50 gift card from the Roseville Police Department – ​​and much praise from members of the Roseville community.

“Thank you for helping one of our community members! I can only hope someone does the same for my grandmother!!!” said one user.

“Great job Raj. Thanks for your persistence and doing the right thing to help,” added another.

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