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Elderly man tricked into car in ‘bizarre’ new robbery scheme

A suspect in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, who allegedly stole a "large sum of money" from an elderly man.

An elderly Louisiana man was fooled into getting into a car with strangers then taking money out of an ATM – in a “bizarre” incident that may be the latest scam targeting well-intentioned older men and women.

Two scammers claiming to be from overseas and working with local charities approached the victim and convinced him to get in their vehicle in Terrebonne Parish, about an hour southwest of New Orleans, authorities said.

They accompanied him to a local bank, where he withdrew an undisclosed “large sum of money” under false pretenses that the suspects later swiped, according to the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office. The suspects returned the man to his car and then took off. 

The sheriff’s office called the incident “bizarre” in comment to Fox News Digital, but warned that it could be indicative of how crafty criminals are adapting to target victims for easy cash. 

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A suspect in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, who allegedly stole a “large sum of money” from an elderly man. (Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office)

“I would refer to it as bizarre for our community,” 1st Lt. Blake Tabor said. “Without having the information to say what other jurisdictions have seen, I know this one is unique to us.” 

“This could certainly be an indication of how suspects in this type of crime are changing their tactics and are more emboldened. I think you could certainly argue that,” Tabor added. 

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A face-to-face scam targeting the elderly is rare, but has played out before, including in Bossier City, Louisiana, in 2021 when a man and woman allegedly scammed the elderly into withdrawing money from an ATM

A scam suspect in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, that allegedly ripped off an elderly man.

A scam suspect in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, that allegedly ripped off an elderly man. (Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office)

Scams targeting the elderly more often play out online or through phone calls from criminals. Last year in Michigan, a couple lost $350,000 when they received an alert on their computer to call a phone number. When called, a suspect pretended to be Apple support, and the couple was compelled to make multiple withdrawals from different banks and transferred the money to a Bitcoin ATM.

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Local detectives said at the time that the money is “nearly impossible to trace” and likely would not be recovered.

An ATM dispensing cash in Lafayette, California, Dec.22, 2021.

An ATM dispensing cash in Lafayette,…

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