Tamarac Woman's Jewelry Taken In "Water Test" Scam
TAMARAC (CBSMiami) – An alert has gone out in Tamarac after a pair of con artists scammed their way into a woman's home and stole a number of valuables.
Jean Darkoulis told CBS4's Joan Murray that the man and woman rang her doorbell at 1:30 in the afternoon and she opened up the garage.
"The man says to me 'I'm from Tamarac, the water company cause your water, there's something wrong. He says you didn't get my notice? I put it five o'clock in the morning on your door'," said Darkoulis. "I said 'I didn't get anything'."
While the well-dressed woman asked Darkoulis to take water samples from her kitchen sink, she says the man asked to use her bathroom.
The man told her he was tired.
"I said 'why are you tired?' He said, 'oh, I have to stop another 50 places to check the water cause the water is no good. If you touch it, your body will be all pimples'," said Darkoulis.
After the pair left, Darkoulis said she went to her bedroom and noticed some of her jewelry was missing. She says they stole a gold Greek key bracelet valued at $150, a two-toned chain link bracelet valued at $400, a thin rope necklace with a cross charm valued at $300 and a Greek eye charm valued at $150.
Frantically, she phoned her son who had left the house just minutes before to go to the store.
"I left maybe five minutes before. They had to be watching. My mother was scared. She said hurry home. And I rushed home and she told me what happened," said John Darkoulis.
Jean Darkoulis gave this description of the suspects: The man was between 6' and 6'4" with blond hair and wearing an orange shirt and khaki shorts. The white Hispanic female was 5'5" to 5'7" tall and was wearing a long black skirt and white blouse. Darkoulis says the woman had a rose tattoo above her left breast.
Darkoulis said she still has nightmares over what happened.
This is not the first time this type of scam has been used to dupe the unsuspecting.
The sheriff's office said if anyone comes to the door claiming to utility worker, or some other person you were not expecting, don't open the door.
BSO said it's never a good idea to let strangers into your home. Demand identification and then call the company to verify their identity. If you are unsure immediately call 911.
