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Police want residents in the Elysian Park and Chinatown area to be on alert after a pair of con men scammed their way into a residence, making of with $2,000 in cash. A 92-year-old Chinese women and her adult niece answered the door last week to find two men posing as AT&T employees with fake work orders. Once inside, one distracted the women while the other searched for valuables and cash. “This appears to be a new crew of con artists, but their MO is not new,” said Lt. Paul Vernon, commanding officer of the detective division for downtown Los Angeles. “They seem to take advantage of elderly residents and persons with limited English ability.”
The suspects are described as two men just under 6-feet tall. One was white, about 200 pounds and spoke with an East Coast accent. The other was Hispanic and was around 300 pounds.
Police always say residents should be weary of solicitors going door to door or calling on the phone, especially when unsolicited. “We’ve seen this happen before, where criminals take advantage of the elderly, who might be easily confused,” Vernon said. “This is only one incident so far, but we want the public to be better aware and safe.”
