Buffalo Grove Couple Loses $60K In Valuables To Conman
BUFFALO GROVE, Ill. (CBS) -- An elderly couple in Buffalo Grove lost a coin collection and jewelry worth more than $60,000 to a thief who showed up at their house pretending to be a fence installer.
Around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, the 86-year-old woman and her husband were sitting on a bench in front of their home in the 600 block of Checker Drive in Buffalo Grove when a white full-size panel van pulled up in their driveway, police said.
A man got out and told the couple he was a fence installer and declared that he was going to build a fence at the residence behind their house, according to a report from police.
The man asked the couple to accompany him to the back of the house to show him their lot line. While in the backyard, the man spoke in Spanish with someone on his cell phone.
When the residents went back into their home, they found that an extensive silver coin collection missing from the den and two gold rings missing from the bedroom. The total value of the missing items was more than $60,000, police said.
A true contractor, according to police, would get the lot line information from the plat of survey and would not go to the backyard for the purpose.
Police ask area residents to speak to neighbors, relatives and friends who are seniors and urge them not to allow anyone into their home, yard or garage, and not to allow anyone to lure them out of the house.
Should someone come to the door without an appointment, don't open the door and call 911 immediately, police say.
The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
