FBI: Scammers stole cash, jewelry from elderly Hispanic women across SoCal using worthless lottery tickets

Federal agents and local police on Monday warned the public about a scam targeting elderly Hispanic women across Southern California that uses worthless state lottery tickets to persuade the victims to hand over cash and jewelry.

The two-year scheme involved suspects approaching victims with what they claimed were winning California lottery tickets and requesting help cashing them, authorities said.

The suspects are accused of telling the victims they needed tens of thousands of dollars for deposits to get the winnings, and would share them once they got them.

The suspects then called phone numbers they said were for lottery officials. In reality, the people on the other side of the phone were co-conspirators, authorities said.

In each case, the suspects drove the victims around to several locations, picking up money and items valued at tens of thousands of dollars along the way, authorities said, and at a final location, the suspects would promise to wait outside, but instead drove away with the cash and jewelry.

They took as little as $1,000 to $2,000 in some of the incidents, authorities said, while in others, they fled with $14,000 to $20,000 of the victims’ cash and belongings.

“(The scheme) is effective,”said Voviette Morgan, a special agent in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles office. “It’s working. It’s targeting our most vulnerable population – the elderly.”

So far, four people have been arrested for the scam, according to a grand jury indictment filed Nov. 12. All except one were Colombian nationals.

All four have been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Investigators alleged proceeds from the scam were wired to out-of-state bank accounts and used to rent cars to drive the victims to banks or their homes.

The suspects’ final fraud attempted was in Long Beach in September. Three of the suspects were arrested in the city on Nov. 5: Luisa Camargo, 38, Mercedes Montanez, 68, and Tito Lozada, 49.

The fourth – Maria Luisa Henao, 43, the only U.S. citizen – was arrested in San Diego.

Authorities said the suspects lived in the Los Angeles area.

Each suspect, if convicted of the charges, faces at least 20 years in prison.

The indictment links the defendants to six victims, but the FBI says it is aware of 11 incidents. Morgan said investigators have identified victims who were defrauded in incidents in Long Beach, Maywood, Baldwin Park, Hawaiian Gardens, Fontana, Lakewood, San Pedro and Chula Vista. Another incident is believed to have occurred in Vallejo in Northern California.

In the Chula Vista incident, on March 21, a 73-year-old victim tried to escape but the suspects pulled her back inside their vehicle, authorities said.

Morgan said the suspects peppered the victims with information in order to confuse them. She said the encounters also involved intimidation.

“This scam was up close,” Morgan said. “It was personal. It was face-to-face. We’re worried about other victims who may have had violence committed against them.”

Morgan said law enforcement officials believe there are other such groups of scammers.