Scammer offers victim a "winning" lottery ticket
By Kate Northrop
NEW YORK, N.Y. — A pair of scammers in New York conned a woman out of $5,000 worth of jewelry after maintaining that their immigration status prevented them from claiming winnings from a "winning" lottery ticket.
A woman in Queens was robbed of thousands in jewelry after agreeing to a fraudulent trade orchestrated by two rogue scammers claiming to have a "winning" lottery ticket.
On Saturday, Aug. 8 at about 11:00 a.m., the 69-year-old woman was approached by two men who stepped out of a gray BMW on 78th Street in Woodhaven.
They began to tell the anonymous victim that they had a winning lottery ticket, police said, but they were unable to collect it due to their immigration status. They did not make it clear how much the ticket was supposedly worth.
The fraudsters suggested that the woman trade them her jewelry in return for the ticket. According to local authorities, the value of the jewelry the woman lost was $5,000.
She handed over her jewelry, but before they gave her a ticket — if one even existed at all — the conmen asked if she could buy them some pain medication for them at a nearby pharmacy.
They disappeared with the jewelry as soon as she entered the store, police said.
Images released by investigators show one of the men wearing a light-colored, long sleeve button-down shirt, khaki pants, black sneakers, and a newsboy cap. The other man is wearing a black polo, black pants, and a black baseball cap.
As of Aug. 9, police were encouraging anyone with information to submit tips to the official NYPD Crime Stoppers website.
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WOW that was easy
Victim wasn't the brightest bulb on the planet.
GREED will get you bent over and hosed every time.
This comment tells more about you than about the victim.
Scammers are evolving. And old people have always been an easy prey.
* It's a pity these two weren't close by to rectify the situation...
As we age we become more childlike, many times even long before dementia appears. My mother once got scammed out of $400, over something that should've been obvious. Since then I've made it a routine to talk to her about all the different ways they can get you. And now with AI voice it's only getting worse.