AURORA, Ill. (STNG) - Aurora police are asking for the public's help in identifying one of two men whose picture was captured by a bank security system, in the scamming of a 65-year-old man out of several thousands of dollars Thursday morning.
At about 10 a.m. on Thursday, the victim, who was inside of a department store in the 2100 block of West Galena Boulevard, agreed to give a man who had approached him, a ride to see a friend who worked at a church located in the 900 block of West Galena, police said.
Once they arrived at the church, the “friend” and the man who requested the ride, produced a “lottery ticket” and told the victim they needed help cashing it because they were in the country illegally.
They added that an up-front deposit of several thousand dollars was needed to secure the winnings.
The two men promised the victim hundreds of thousands of dollars for his help, police said.
After agreeing, the victim took both men to two separate banks - one in the 2000 block of West Galena Boulevard, and one in the 1500 block of Orchard Road - where he withdrew cash and obtained an advance on his credit card, in order to satisfy the amount of the deposit requested by the men, police said.
At each bank location, the victim was accompanied by the man he had met at the department store while the other suspect remained in the victim’s car.
Upon exiting the second bank and handing the cash over to the men, the victim was directed by the suspects to an office supply store in the 2300 block of Old Indian Trail Road to purchase what they termed “special envelopes” for the transaction with the lottery company.
After entering the business, again with the suspect from the department store, the victim had to use the restroom and when he came out, he found that both men had vanished.
Both suspects are male Hispanics with black hair and brown eyes. The man who originally confronted the victim and accompanied him into the banks and office supply store goes by the name of “Jose”, is between 5 feet 6 inches and 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighing between 160 and 170 pounds. The suspect picked up at the church goes by the name of “Rafael”, is 5 feet 7 inches and 5 feet 9 inches tall weighing 155 to 165 pounds.
Anyone with information is asked to call Aurora police at (630) 801-6655 or Aurora Crime Stoppers at (630) 892-1000. Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward of $1,000 for information leading to arrests.
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