Crime & Safety

Elderly Woman Scammed in Tampa

Lisa Timmer, Neighborhood Affairs Liaison for Tampa Police District 2, warns folks to be on the look out for these types of crimes.

An elderly woman was scammed out of $5,425, and authorities are asking the public to be on the lookout for the two women involved — and to be wary of similar scams.

The alleged incident occurred around 2 p.m. last Saturday, according to police.

An elderly woman was approached in the parking lot of a Commerce Palms Boulevard store by two women who showed her a wallet and a stack of bills they said they found in the lot.

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“One of the suspects claimed to have worked at a nearby store and had confirmed the money was counterfeit via a special 'counterfeit' machine that the store used,” according to police. "The suspects claimed that the manager at a nearby store would redeem the counterfeit bills at the company bank but would first need legitimate money to replace the sum going to the bank.”

The elderly woman then drove with the two women to her house, retrieved $5,425 and then drove back to the parking lot, according to police. The elderly woman was told to park behind a van where she could not see the two women go into the store they had said would redeem the bills. One of the women later came back and told the elderly woman to go to the rear of the store where the manager would meet her and give her her money.

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Yet no manager ever showed up. That’s when the elderly woman realized she had been scammed, according to police. The women had vanished.

The two women may have been driving a goldish brown Toyota or Chevy, mid-size, according to police. Both women are black. One is 30-49 years old, about 5 foot, 6 inches tall and weighs 130 pounds. The other is 50-64 years old, about 5 foot, 4 inches tall and weighs about 160 pounds.

Anyone with information about the alleged scam should call Tampa Police at (813) 931-6539.


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