Woman loses thousands of dollars in Oakland scam

Suspects who scammed a 78-year-old woman out of thousands of dollars and briefly dragged her with their getaway vehicle last week in the Laurel district were being sought by police.

One person was arrested in the case earlier this week but was released pending further investigation, authorities said.

Police said that just after 1:30 p.m. March 9 the woman was approached by two men in the 4000 block of MacArthur Boulevard in the Laurel district. The suspects told her that if she gave them a specific amount of cash, they would contribute a larger amount to a charity of her choice, police said.

The woman withdrew the cash, which was in the thousands of dollars, from her account at a nearby bank and gave it to the two men. They then got into a vehicle driven by a third person.

That is when the woman realized she had been scammed, police said. When she tried to exit the vehicle, she was dragged a short distance before falling onto the roadway. She did not require medical aid, police said.

Detailed descriptions of the two suspects who initially approached the woman were not released.

The suspects' vehicle was located Monday in the 5100 block of East 12th Street and a man inside was arrested. But he was not charged and was released from custody pending further investigation.

Police and Crime Stoppers of Oakland are offering up to $5,000 in reward money for information leading to the arrests of the suspects. Anyone with information may call police at 510-238-3329 or Crime Stoppers at 510-7778572.