Elderly Man Is Victim Of 'Scam' In LF

Lake Forest police are reporting an increase in what they call "scams related to the economy." In one incident last week, an 85-year-old Waukegan resident who police described as "very confused" was tricked out of $8,000 by at least two people whom he said convinced him to withdraw money from his account at the Northern Trust Bank in Lake Forest.

Lake Forest Deputy Police Chief Glenn Burmeister said the man's story has changed frequently since he called the LFPD on the afternoon of June 25 from downtown Lake Forest. But based on the victim's initial account and bank video footage, police believe he was tricked by a man and a woman whom he met randomly in Waukegan. Police describe the suspects as a heavy set African American man and an African American woman between 45 and 55 years of age. In the bank video, the female suspect is wearing a large hat.

Deputy Chief Burmeister said the victim was approached in a Jewel Food parking lot in Waukegan. "We think they went into a Waukegan bank and appeared to withdraw money of their own, and then they tricked him into driving to Lake Forest and withdrawing money from his bank," the deputy chief said. In an e-mail, he added: "The scam was that the female suspect claimed to have a large sum of money she received in an insurance settlement from 9/11. They wanted to give some of the money to the Baptist church and the only one the victim knew of was on Oakwood in Lake Forest. The suspects wanted to give

the victim the money to keep in a safe place. They needed him to withdraw the $8,000 to insure the bank was a safe place. The victim gave the male suspect the money and he put it in a piece of cloth. The male suspect gave the piece of cloth back to the victim, directing him to keep it in a safe place. At some point, the offenders switched the real money for cut-up paper. After the suspects left the victim's car, the victim opened the cloth and found the contents to be paper."

He said there probably was an accomplice who followed the suspects and victim to Lake Forest and then drove the suspects away. Police processed fingerprints at the banks, and they have sent snapshots from the videos to police departments in Waukegan and other neighboring towns.

In a separate incident, a Lake Forest resident told police she had received a call from someone who claimed she had won a sweepstakes. The caller instructed the woman to send money to receive a prize, but she was suspicious so she reported the call to police. "This is a scam," Deputy Chief Burmeister said. "There are people out there looking to take advantage of others due to the economic situation. People should remain alert to these scams."