Elderly Woman Gives Away $15,000 in Alleged Scam

Orange County Sheriff’s deputies are reviewing security footage from the on Del Obispo Street, looking to identify two people they say stole $15,000 from a 77-year-old San Juan Capistrano woman.

Police say the unknown couple convinced Tomasa Martinez that they had a winning lottery ticket that they could sell her. Martinez agreed and gave them the cash, police say, but she never received the ticket in exchange.

At about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Martinez contacted police about a woman who approached her outside of Ralphs. The woman was distraught and told Martinez that she had a winning lottery ticket but no way to cash it.

While they talked, a man approached and said he could possibly help. He said he and the woman were from the area and could sell the ticket to Martinez for $15,000, police say.

Martinez believed them and accepted a ride to the at Paseo Adelanto, police say, where she withdrew the cash. She gave them the money, and they drove her to the next to the bank and asked her to purchase a book of stamps.

She went into the post office and bought the stamps, but when she came outside, the man and woman were gone, and she couldn’t find their car. She waited for an hour before contacting the Sheriff’s Department.