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"Found" Money Costs Victim Her Life Savings

January 13, 2006
If someone should approach you in a parking garage and say they just found a bag with $8 million in it, run to the nearest exit. More than likely, you've been targeted by a scam that cost an elderly Atlanta woman her life savings.

Police say an 86-year old woman was approached in the garage of an upscale mall by a woman in her 30s, who had claimed to have found the money and was highly excited. Police say the victim told the woman she should report it, but the scammer resisted, saying "we found it, we should keep it."

Police say by including the victim in the good fortune, greed quickly took over. They say the scammer spent the next 28 days planning with the victim how to get the money -- which the victim never saw -- out of the country.

It was agreed that for the victim's advancing the necessary funds to smuggle the cash, she would receive $3 million. Police say the scammer spent the next 28 days in close contact with the victim, until she had convinced her to hand over $772,000 for the effort – the victim's entire life savings.

Police say the scammer then disappeared with the money and hasn't been seen since. But since the scam worked so well, and apparently so easily, they say they expect the scammer is currently scouting other parking garages in upscale malls, looking for another victim.

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