An elderly woman falls prey to a lottery scam and loses thousands

• Elderly woman taken in by lottery scam.
• Three people have been arrested.
• They stole thousands from her.

Using the lowest tricks, three Colombian immigrants deceived an elderly woman with a fake lottery ticket.

They stole $20,000 of her life savings.

Acting Addison Police Chief Roy Selvik commented on the criminals.

«This is a disturbing case involving a group of con artists and their coordinated efforts to steal from someone simply trying to help them.»

Lottery scam: They took advantage of an innocent woman

Miguel Peña Gómez, 43, Liliana Nagles Cuesta, 49, and Ángela Posada Acosta, 45, were arrested on November 16.

They were apprehended in Crystal Lake, Illinois, the State’s Attorney said in a statement. At their first court hearing they were denied bail.

They were each charged with one count of theft by deception of $5,000 or more from a person over 60 years of age.

The «defendants preyed on an innocent, trusting woman with a good heart, scamming her out of more than $20,000,» lamented DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin.

The victim hopes to recover her money

The elderly woman’s fight to recover her savings began on November 7 after she discovered she had been deceived.

According to investigators, Peña Gómez told the old woman that he had a winning lottery ticket worth $6 million, but he needed some money to collect it.

Nagles-Cuesta, who was allegedly listening to the conversation, approached them and offered to help. He pretended to communicate with lottery officials and told Peña that he needed $30,000 to collect the prize.

To make the situation more credible, Nagales Cuesta offered to pitch in some money as well and the old lady asked them to accompany her to the bank to withdraw her savings.

The victim gave the scammers her life savings

The victim drove the people to her bank. There she withdrew $20,143 and put it in the glove compartment of her car. Peña pretended to feel ill.

He asked the victim to drive him to the store to get medication. While she was in the store, he fled with the cash.

The investigation was undertaken by Addison Police Department and a week later the suspects were arrested.

Now the victim is hoping she will get her money back in time for Christmas.