MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - Miami Beach firefighters saved the day for an elderly man, and his house wasn’t even on fire.
Crews visited Morry Sunshine’s home on Friday to give him his COVID-19 vaccine, but the firefighters also wound up saving him from a pricey scam.
Sunshine, 96, has developed a special relationship with the Miami Beach Fire Department.
Back in January, firefighter Ryan Yuhr and his partner Armando Albaladejo paid the senior a visit to give him his first COVID vaccination.
But while there, he told them about a concerning call he received.
“He got off his cellphone, and he basically reiterated to us that he found out his daughter may have been involved in a motor vehicle accident in New York City,” Yuhr said.
“He told me my daughter was going to spend the night in jail unless she got $10,800 in bail,” Sunshine said.
The scammers demanded the money as a woman they claimed to be Sunshine’s daughter screamed for help in the background.
“I didn’t know it was a scam because I could hear my daughter screaming. She was screaming in the background, ‘Daddy, help me!'” Sunshine said. “I was badly shaken. I was not the least bit rational. I was anxious to get through the shot so I could go to the bank and get the money. I was in a state of terror.”
But the firefighters stepped in to help. They urged Sunshine not to send any money.
After a closer look, they discovered the call was actually coming from Atlanta and not New York.
And when Sunshine called his daughter, she was safe at home.
“All the right clues were there. I was just so grateful to be able to give back to one of our citizens and be able to help him on a more personal level,” Yuhr said.
“I’m deeply grateful to Ryan and Armando and in this connection, for saving me $11,000, and for relieving my agony and fear,” Sunshine said.
The City of Miami Beach recently honored both firefighters at a commission meeting for going above and beyond their duty.
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