BEAUMONT, Texas — Beaumont Police are asking for help identifying two people who they believe scammed an elderly woman out of thousands of dollars.
It happened on November 10, 2022. The two suspects allegedly used a "pigeon drop scheme" to scam the victim out of $10,000, according to a Beaumont Police Department release.
Police said a pigeon drop is a "confidence trick" in which a mark, or pigeon, is persuaded to give up a certain amount of money to secure the rights to a larger sum of money.
To perform the pigeon drop, two con artists pose as strangers to each other and manipulate their victim into "finding" a large amount of "lost" money. The two con artists then convince the victim that they can all claim equal shares of the found money if they each put up some of their own money to prove good faith.
If the scam works, the victim puts up their share and it is stolen.
Anyone who recognizes the suspects or has any information about this crime is encouraged to call Beaumont Police at 409-832-1234.
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From a Beraumont Police Department release:
BPD Detectives are trying to identify the two suspects pictured below.
On November 10, 2022 these two suspects scammed an elderly female out of $10,000 using a Pigeon Drop Scheme.
If you recognize these suspects or have any information about this crime, call Beaumont PD at 409-832-1234.
If you have information about a crime you could earn a cash reward of up to $1000 by providing an ANONYMOUS tip to Crime Stoppers of Southeast Texas.
Call 833-TIPS (8477) or download the P3Tips App on your mobile device to submit your tip anonymously.
This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.