Fake Refugee Bilks Woman Out of $2,200

OXNARD — A woman who thought she was helping a political outcast from a foreign country donate money to an African mission ended up being bilked out of $2,200, Oxnard police said Saturday.

The scam took place about 6 p.m. Friday, when a man in his mid-30s approached a woman in a gas station parking lot in Oxnard and asked her to help him find an “African mission.” A female accomplice in her 50s approached a short time later.

The man asked the victim, who police did not identify, to take some money, which he claimed was an inheritance, and donate it to the mission for him because he was a political outcast from his country, Officer Robin Brunson said. He told the woman that if it was known that he contributed the money, his family in his home country would be killed.

At this point, the accomplice said she had already accepted some money to donate, Brunson said.

Both suspects then pressured the woman to withdraw money from her bank account to show good faith. After receiving $2,200 from the victim, the suspects fled, leaving the victim with a container of shredded newspaper.

The man is described as black, thin, 5 feet, 5 inches and wearing a round skull-type African cap with no bill. He was carrying the phony money in what resembled a black shaving case.

The woman is black, 5 feet, 10 inches and about 140 pounds. She had gaps in her front teeth and was wearing a straw hat and glasses with a broken left earpiece that had been wired together.

An investigation is continuing.