Insider Buzz: California man loses $9,000 in lottery scam
Sunnyvale police are looking for two men suspected of concocting a lottery scam to steal thousands of dollars from a Sunnyvale man.
According to police, the pair approached a 44-year-old man in the parking lot of the Costco at 150 Lawrence Station Road around 10:30 a.m. on Dec. 10. They told the man they had a winning lottery ticket but needed to put forward a deposit in order to claim their winnings, Lt. Marty Dale said.
The suspects told the man they couldn't pay the deposit because they were not legal residents of the United States and asked the man to lend them the cash, Dale said. They allegedly promised the man he would get his money back — plus a significant cut of the jackpot.
They then drove the man to two different Sunnyvale banks, where he withdrew a total of $9,000, Dale said. Once the man withdrew the money, one of the suspects allegedly snatched the bills from his hand. One suspect then feigned a stomach ache and asked the man to buy him some medicine at a store, Dale said. When the man came back out of the store, the suspects were gone.
One of the men is described as being 28 to 32 years old, 5 feet 7 inches tall and 190 pounds. The other is described as 32 years old, 6 feet tall and 180 pounds.
The suspects fled in a large, newer, black, American-made car with a leather interior, police said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Sunnyvale Detective Eric Suzuki at (408) 730-7130.
The men could be connected to similar crimes in San Francisco and San Mateo County, police said.
Police describe the suspect in this sketch as a male Hispanic, between 28 and 32-years-old, standing about five-feet-seven inches tall and weighing about 190 pounds. | 
The suspect in this sketch is described as a male Hispanic, about 32-years-old, standing about 6-feet tall and weighing about 180 pounds. |
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| One of the suspects appears in the upper-right corner of this surveillance camera image. | |