Men posing as detectives scam elderly

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) - Police say two unidentified men, at least one of which poses as a detective, are wanted for scamming elderly citizens in Portsmouth.

According to Jan Clark with the Portsmouth Police Department, a "neatly dressed" man knocked on the door of a 76-year-old man in the 2400 block of Des Moines Avenue on the morning of Oct. 5.

Clark says the "detective" showed the elderly man a gold badge, told him his home was the dump site of a large amount of money from a robbery and that his home was the next target for a robbery. The man then offered to assist the victim to remove all money from his account for safekeeping in case of robbery.

According to Clark, the victim drove himself and the suspect to SunTrust Bank in the 4000 block of Victory Boulevard in Portsmouth. The victim withdrew an undisclosed amount of cash, handed the money to the suspect, then realized he was being robbed. The victim yelled he was being robbed and the suspect demanded he place the money inside a piece of cloth.

Police say a car had been parked outside of the victim's home and had followed them to the bank. When the victim realized he was being robbed, the men got into that second car, a gray Mercedes with unknown North Carolina plates, and fled.

Police say this incident is similar to those reported in Norfolk and Portsmouth in recent weeks.

If you have information on this incident and those like it, contact Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP.