OXNARD : Police Warn Residents of Con Artists in Area

After recently receiving numerous complaints of bunco operators in the Oxnard area, the Oxnard Police Department has issued a warning for residents to be wary of con artists preying on Spanish-speaking victims.

“There is definitely a ring working this area,” said Oxnard Police Detective Len Newcomb of the department’s fraud unit.

About half a dozen of the con jobs have been reported in past weeks, Newcomb said. He added that the actual number of victims could easily be three times higher, but embarrassment prevents many victims from reporting the crime.

The perpetrators, who often work in pairs, frequently approach potential victims--often women--in the vicinity of shopping centers, he said.

In the most common version of the bunco scheme, two suspects approach a victim, one pretending to be a confused native of a Latin American country and the other posing as a local citizen or businessman.

The first suspect shows the victim what appears to be a winning lottery ticket, gold bars or valuable gems. Seeking help in cashing or selling the items, the suspect will ask the victim to furnish an amount of cash as a sign of good faith.

Losses in recently reported incidents have ranged between $400 and $3,600, Newcomb said. He warned residents who are approached not to detain the suspects, but instead to contact police and furnish a description of the suspects. For more information, call the fraud unit at 385-7660.