By Matthew Hoy
Record Staff Writer
GOLETA—A group of scam artists working in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties swindled a 20-year-old Goleta woman out of approximately $24,500 earlier this month, according to county Sheriff's deputies.
On Aug. 5, the victim was approached by a hispanic woman outside a drug store in Goleta. The victim could not understand what the woman was saying and a hispanic man speaking on a nearby telephone offered to translate, authorities said.
The man then told the victim that the woman had won $100,000 in a Fantasy Five lottery drawing, according to deputies, but could not claim the prize because she was in the country illegally and had no identification.
According to the report, the man said that the woman was willing to give them the ticket if they each put up $25,000. They could then cash the ticket and double their money in just a few hours.
The group then went into the drug store and verified that the ticket was indeed a winner, the victim said, deputies said. They then went to a nearby restaurant to discuss the deal. The man said that he wanted in, and left to withdraw money from his bank. He returned a short time later with what he claimed to be $40,000.
This convinced the victim to join and she withdrew a total of $24,500 from three separate banks.
The report said that the man told the victim they could cash the ticket at a local bank. On the way, the woman complained of stomach pains and asked the other two to stop at a store and get some medicine.
At the store, the victim and the man get out to buy the medicine, but the victim leaves her purse, along with the $24,500 in the car, authorities said.
When the victim got to the medicine aisle, she discovered that the man was no longer with her. Upon returning to her car, she found both suspects gone, along with her money.
Deputies described the suspects as a 27-year-old woman, 5 feet 4 inches tall weighing approximately 120 pounds, with brown eyes and shoulder length brown hair worn in a ponytail. The man was said to be 25 to 35 years old, 5 feet 4 inches tall, weighing 140 to 150 pounds, with brown eyes and black hair.
A similar incident reported last week in Camarillo, with suspect descriptions similar to the ones in Goleta, prompted deputies to issue the public warning, said detective Lou Martin.
"The money is good, it's very lucrative and there's a lot of easy targets," Martin said.
Deputies also want to warn people of a similar scam occurring in Santa Barbara.
In this one, people are offered part of inheritance if they will help find a worthy charity to donate the rest of the money.
The targets in the inheritance scam have generally been elderly or hispanic, deputies said. Anyone with information regarding these cases in encouraged to call Lou Martin at 681-4150.
Published Thursday, August 25, 1994, The Lompoc Record.
