Man Claiming to Investigate Fraud Takes Rest of Senior's Money

A man who claimed to be a private investigator looking into a scam that bilked an 86-year-old Tinley Park woman out of $8,000 took the rest of the woman’s life savings, police said.

Police said the woman was contacted on March 28 and again on March 29 by a man claiming to be a private investigator looking into .

In the previous scam, the woman lost $8,000 to two women who approached her at about 4 p.m. Feb. 9 in the parking lot of Walt’s Foods on Harlem Avenue. The women said they had found a wallet containing $100,000, but would need $8,000 to hire a lawyer to split the funds legally.

In the more recent scam, the man showed up at the senior’s house the morning of March 29 and flashed a gold-colored badge, police said. He told the woman she was being investigated for being involved with drug money. He then told her she would need to withdraw her all her money from the bank so he could scan it to determine if it was drug money.

The woman went to her bank and withdrew the rest of the money from her account while the man waited at her house, police said. He took it and left, telling her he would return after the “scan” was complete. He never came back.

The woman said there had been $20,000 in her account before the parking lot scam.

Police are looking for a middle-aged black male, between 5 foot 10 and 6 feet tall, wearing glasses, a tan coat and dark dress pants. He was driving a dark, older-model vehicle.

Tinley Park Police could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon. This story will be updated as it develops.