‘She said they stole everything’: This California woman says her $30K life savings was stolen shortly after two people approached her on the sidewalk. Here's what the scammers did

How two scammers ended up stealing $29K and jewelry

When the two women approached the victim, one asked her for help finding an immigration office, and the other said they needed assistance from someone with legal status in the United States to claim a large cash prize.

The women were driving a Toyota Prius and convinced the victim to come with them to help get the prize. However, after the victim got into the car, the two women explained that there was a catch.

"They needed for someone to have $60,000 because they didn't want to feel threatened," Perez told Eyewitness News. "They said they'd been robbed before when they tried to claim money."

One of the scammers said she could front some of the money but that the victim would need to come up with the rest. They took her to her Pomona home so she could get her funds.

Perez, the victim’s daughter, who was home at the time, said her mother came inside their house and was acting weird: "I noticed her eyes were red, her face was red because she had been crying, but she was happy, so that's what was weird."

Despite the odd behavior, Perez said nothing, and had no way of knowing her mother had walked into her bedroom to get her valuable jewelry and $29,000 in cash, which was her entire life savings.

The victim took the money and jewelry to the car, then later came back inside to get a utility bill to prove her identity. Unfortunately, moments later, after she went back outside with her bill, she called her daughter in a panic because the scammers were gone — with her funds and her jewels.

"She calls me hysterically crying, screaming. She was out of breath. She said they stole everything; they left with everything," Perez explained.

Perez said she thinks she could have stopped her mother from giving up the money.

"Just go with your gut feeling," she advised. "Because I had that gut feeling that something's wrong and, now that I look at it, I should have stopped it."

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How to avoid being swindled

Perez had some very simple advice to help others avoid falling victim to the same type of scam. "Don't trust people who just walk up, no matter how nice they may seem or friendly they may seem," said Perez. "The best thing to do is just walk away."

Unfortunately, many people do end up being tricked by scammers each year. The Internet Crime Complaint Center reported that 880,418 fraud and scam complaints were filed in 2023, with victims losing more than $12.5 billion collectively. Many are older individuals like Perez's mother.

The good news is, there are ways to avoid becoming a victim. Walking away, as Perez suggested, is usually the best approach. However, you should also:

• Know what red flags to watch out for, such as offers that sound too good to be true.
• Avoiding ever giving cash or jewelry to someone you do not know very well
• Verify who the people you are talking to are, whether you're speaking in person, via phone, or via some other communication method
• Be wary if someone needs you to do something for them "urgently" that involves providing money or personal details
• Talk with a family member or trusted friend before giving money, property, or personal details to anyone to see if your loved one is suspicious

If you can follow these tips, you can hopefully ensure that no scammers, no matter how clever or "kind," will end up walking off with your savings.