An 82-year-old Washington Parish man, chronically ill and living on the Northshore, withdrew $30,000 from his bank account after a caller claiming to be from his bank's fraud department instructed him to pull the cash and leave it in his mailbox. The money, which represented 40% of his life savings, was gone within minutes, scooped up by someone in a small silver SUV who removed it from the mailbox in under five minutes.
The scam began with a call to the man's daughter, Dana Harrison, whose number displayed as belonging to the Hancock Whitney fraud department, according to WWL-TV. Harrison gave the caller her father's phone number, and from there the fraudster claimed to be investigating fraud on his account, instructing him to withdraw the cash and to keep the phone line open the entire time he was at the bank and back home. He was told he'd be returning counterfeit bills placed in his mailbox for pickup — a false pretext designed to keep him compliant and isolated from anyone who might intervene.
The man and his late wife built that $30,000 slice of savings over three decades as small-town dairy farmers, according to the report. His daughter, Loralyn Deroche, said the ordeal was “just sickening” and that she didn't want it to happen to anyone else. Deroche also suspects someone physically followed her father from his house to the bank and back, watching his movements before the mailbox pickup occurred. The victim himself said he regretted believing the caller.
A Documented Local Threat
This is not the first time fraudsters have specifically impersonated Hancock Whitney to target Washington Parish residents. In April 2024, the Washington Parish Sheriff's Office issued a public warning after a local resident was tricked by callers posing as Hancock Whitney headquarters staff into transferring $12,000, with the scammers attempting to extract another $50,000 via FedEx. The victim's sisters told WWL-TV that the same scheme had recently hit another friend in Washington Parish, and the sheriff's department is now investigating multiple potential fraud cases tied to the pattern, including this one. Investigators there have said the man's $30,000 is unlikely to be recovered.
The mailbox pickup tactic used against the Washington Parish man mirrors a broader operational shift among bank imposter scammers. Law enforcement agencies in multiple jurisdictions have warned that fraudsters increasingly instruct victims to place cash in home mailboxes or hand it to physical couriers under the guise of an “undercover investigation,” a method reported by Hoodline in coverage of a similar case in Citrus County. Hoodline has also reported on a Grass Valley scam and a Nashville advisory describing near-identical cash-pickup schemes, suggesting the courier method is now a standard playbook rather than an isolated ruse.
How the Scammers Faked the Bank's Number
Scammers rely on fake numbers and identities to fool victims into trusting the call, and the Truth in Caller ID Act makes transmitting misleading caller ID information with intent to defraud punishable by up to $10,000 per violation, according to the Federal Communications Commission. Enforcement is difficult, however, because much of this spoofing originates from overseas call centers beyond the easy reach of local investigators. Major financial institutions, including Hancock Whitney, have stated in safety guidance that legitimate bank representatives will never ask customers to keep phone lines open during withdrawals, move money into unverified safe accounts, or hand cash to doorstep couriers, according to guidance published by One Florida Bank.
Part of a Growing National and State Pattern
The Washington Parish case fits a rapidly escalating trend. Americans aged 60 and older reported $7.75 billion in fraud losses across more than 201,000 complaints to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center in 2025, a 59% jump from the prior year, per TechEase. Federal Trade Commission data separately showed an eightfold increase between 2020 and 2024 in total losses from older adults losing $100,000 or more to business and government impersonation scams, rising from $55 million to $445 million. In Louisiana specifically, older adults reported losing more than $36 million to financial fraud across over 2,000 complaints filed in 2025, according to state consumer protection data.
Legal Consequences and Where to Report
Louisiana law provides significant penalties for this kind of exploitation. Under Louisiana Revised Statute 14:93.4, financial exploitation of an elderly or infirm person carries up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine for a first offense, with mandatory imprisonment of at least one year for repeat convictions under 2025 updates to state law. A separate statute, LA R.S. 14:67.21, criminalizes theft of assets from an aged or disabled person through fraudulent schemes involving $1,500 or more, also carrying up to 10 years imprisonment and mandating full financial restitution to victims. Victims and family members can report incidents to the U.S. Department of Justice National Elder Fraud Hotline at 1-833-FRAUD-11 or the Louisiana Attorney General's Consumer Protection Hotline at 1-800-351-4889.
