An elderly man in Ohio is behind bars tonight after shooting an Uber driver shortly after she arrived at his home. This incident is said to have happened directly due to a phone scam. The 81-year-old man says he was getting constant phone calls from people who told him a relative was incarcerated. They demanded $12,000 cash from him, or else someone would do harm to him. The people on the phone, obviously scammers, told him to place the money in a box outside of his home and someone would come pick it up.
Someone, most likely the same scammers, called an Uber driver to the man’s house to pick up a package. She probably did not know what would be in the box. The scammer’s plan was probably for the man to put the money in the box, and the unassuming woman would simply take the box to a destination where it would be taken by the scammers.
When the woman arrived at the man’s home, he wound up producing a weapon and shooting her multiple times, taking her life. The woman is deceased, and the man is in jail all because of a phone scam for money gone wrong. There is another school of thought that says the woman was sent to die by the scammers, although that is a lot less likely than the financial angle.
SOURCES:
Ohio man tricked by scam caller shoots and kills Uber driver
Uber Driver Allegedly Shot Dead by Man Who Believed He Was Being Scammed
Ohio man charged with murder over shooting of Black ride-share driver | Ohio | The Guardian
Shocking video captures scam victim pointing gun at innocent Uber driver before allegedly killing her
Ohio man, 81, is charged with murder for shooting dead female Uber driver who was called by a scammer to pick up parcel outside his home – just moments after he was also targeted by menacing fake phone call | Daily Mail Online
