NATCHITOCHES, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – Police in Natchitoches say they are investigating a scam that led to a local hotel clerk cleaning out the cash drawer and nearly wiring it to a stranger posing as someone from the corporate office.

Police say they were initially called for a report of a burglary, after the Motel 6 at 7624 Highway 3110 reported just after 5 a.m. Wednesday that the desk clerk was missing and the office door had been forced open.

Officers were told she was last seen around 5:02 a.m grabbing the keys for the motel’s vehicle.

Police say they were able to track her cell phone location to narrow the search down to the Walmart parking lot on Keyser Avenue, where they managed to catch up with her before she went inside to wire the money.

The desk clerk told the officers that she got a call from someone claiming to be at the corporate office, who told her to get the money from the motel’s locked office and deposit it into her banking account. From there, she said she was instructed to wire the money at Walmart into a what police describe as an unknown account outside of the United States.

Police believe the desk clerk was scammed and is not facing any charges.