Lubbock police warn against new type of scam

Published: Monday, February 25, 2002

A new variation on an old scam has surfaced in a suburb of Oklahoma City, and police here are warning residents to be on the lookout in case the con artists decide to come to Lubbock.

The thieves in Oklahoma managed to take $25,000 from a man, who thought he was helping to settle an argument about banks, police Sgt. Keith Woodard said.

In the scam, two partners lure someone into a conversation about the relative safety of banks, he said.

One of the two con artists claims to not trust banks, while the other says the opposite.

The cons visit a bank and one of the crooks walks in and "withdraws" a sizable amount of money to prove his point, Woodard said.

In actuality, he has not withdrawn any money, Woodard said. He produces the money to convince the victim that they can be trusted.

The victim is then asked to withdraw money to settle the dispute between the two, Woodard said.

When the victim hands over the money to be inspected by a third party, the thieves leave with it, he said.

The scam is a twist on the "pigeon drop," where the victim is usually promised a large sum of money for an initial cash investment.

"There's always a reason why they need money up front," Woodard said. "They usually make contact with the victim around a shopping center. The first person (involved in the scam) just approaches them and begins a conversation. Then they go somewhere else."

In the Oklahoma case, the con artists made contact with their victim in a Wal-Mart parking lot. They then went to two different banks, ending up in a McDonald's where the money was stolen, Woodard said.

While the victim's age was not indicated in the report, "usually, they're (the thieves) going to target the elderly or someone on fixed income," he said.

The difference between the Oklahoma scam and other, more classic varieties of the pigeon drop is that this scam does not rely on promising the victim a "get rich quick" scenario, Woodard said.

"Usually, they prey on the victim's greed," he said.

Because of that, the victim is less willing to come forward about being scammed because of embarrassment or guilt, Woodard said.

The bottom line is that everyone should be suspicious of strangers asking them to withdraw money — whatever the circumstances, he said.

"They go to a lot of trouble to make the schemes look real," he said. "If you have to withdraw large amounts of money from your account, that should raise large red flags."

"If it's too good to be true," he said, "it probably is."