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By ROBBIE HESS | Staff Writer

HELENA – Two officers from the Helena Police Department recently helped return $25,000 to a local woman who was involved in a scam.

Cpl. William Givan and Officer Jesse Moore responded to a call where a resident had fallen for an online scam. The resident was told by the scammer she was in legal trouble and that police were going to freeze her bank accounts.

The scammer then asked her to withdraw $25,000 in cash from her account before it was frozen and send it to an address in Brooklyn, New York. The scammer explained that the money would be held by the U.S. government and would be returned after the investigation was completed. The victim then sent a UPS package containing the money to the address in Brooklyn.

Luckily, HPD was made aware of the situation quickly. Givan and Moore got into contact with the NYPD and identified which precinct the package containing the money was to be delivered to, and with the cooperation of HPD, UPS and the NYPD, officers were able to retrieve the money before it was delivered.

Givan and Moore were able to return the money to the victim.

The scammer will not be receiving any money, but will be receiving a visit from NYPD detectives thanks to information provided by HPD.

“This was done while we all slept.” Chief Flynn said, “These are the actions of two of our night shift patrol bureau officers who are not detectives, but dedicated patrol officers who took the initiative to do everything they could to get the victim’s money returned, knowing it could not wait until the morning to pass it along to the detectives.”

Givan and Officer Moore will receive letters of commendation for their outstanding work.

“I could not be prouder of their determination and initiative to help this victim get back everything she almost lost.” Flynn said.

Flynn urged the general public to be wary of the dangers of scams.

“Please, educate not only yourself, but others in your family about the dangers with these types of scams. Especially the elderly, who are commonly the most frequently targeted.” Flynn said. “If you receive a phone call, email or anything that says law enforcement is going to arrest you if you do not pay them, contact HPD immediately. Law enforcement will never contact you via phone or email to inform you that you are about to be arrested.”