Scammers steal $11,000 in lottery check scam

The Seal Beach Police Department is looking for two women who cheated a third woman out of more than $11,000.

The crime was reported to the Seal Beach Police at 9:16 p.m., Tuesday, March 2.

According to Sgt. Steve Bowles, public information officer for the SBPD, two Hispanic women approached the victim in a retail store on Seal Beach Boulevard and offered to share their lottery winnings with her.

One of the women claimed to be an illegal resident and needed the victim’s help in getting the lottery  money.

Bowles said they told the victim they had to pay the taxes on the lottery winnings in advance and offered to share the winnings with the victim if she would provide the money.

Bowles said the victim went to more than one bank and withdrew more than $11,000 cash. The first suspect was described as 65-70 years old. The second suspect was described as 30-35 years old.

Bowles agreed the crime was similar to the “pigeon drop.”

The pigeon drop is one of the oldest known confidence games. According to eHow.com, the name comes from the French word “pigeon” and means someone who is easily fooled.

The scam usually involves a confidence artist “finding” money along with the victim, who is then talked into putting up “good faith” money (sometimes with a lawyer or someone impersonating a lawyer) as part of an agreement to share the “found money.”

At some point in the scam, an envelope or case that contains the “found” money is switched for something else—and the victim is left holding an empty package.

According to the Encyclopedia of Scams Web site, “The base take for this scam is dependent on the contents of the victim’s wallet.” The Web site said the take can run into the thousands if the victim can be persuaded to go to a bank.