Couple Sought In Hallandale Beach Lottery Scam
HALLANDALE BEACH (CBSMiami) – Hallandale Beach police are looking for a man and a woman they say conned an elderly lady out of her life savings.
It all happened at a shopping center at 1400 East Hallandale Beach Boulevard on August 7.
Major Thomas Honan has released surveillance video of the two suspects, hoping the public can help identify them.
Honan said the man told an elderly lady he had a winning lottery ticket worth 2-million dollars that he couldn't claim because he is an illegal immigrant.
The man offered to let the woman keep the ticket and the money if she compensated him generously beforehand.
The female suspect acted like she overheard the conversation and said she'd help if she could split the jackpot with the victim.
The victim agreed after the female suspect proved she had $20,000 cash to put in.
All three of them got in the man's car and drove to the victim's nearby home where she took $11,700 in cash from her home safe.
It was nearly all of her life savings.
"She feels embarrassed. At the same time she's upset and obviously she was tricked into giving them a substantial amount of her savings," said Major Honan. He warned that if something sounds to good to be true, it usually is. "We always tell people, 'be careful, don't trust anyone who comes up to you and tells you, hey I have this amount of money, in this case a winning lottery ticket. We always tell people do not trust strangers. And obviously don't give them cash."
Honan believes there are other victims of this call, called a "pigeon drop". Anyone with information is urged to call Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS.
