UCPD receives several reports of family scamming students in Westwood
By Roberto Luna Jr.
Jan. 5, 2016 7:42 a.m.
A family asking for money to pay for gas and medications has scammed students out of thousands of dollars, university police said.
UCPD has received several reports of a family that asks students for money, saying their children are sick, said UCPD spokeswoman Nancy Greenstein.
Greenstein said the family consists of either a mother and father or two mothers with children. They usually drive a white pickup truck in a parking lot or on the street near Chevron, In-N-Out and Westwood Plaza, among other places.
She added the family often offers to drive a student to an ATM and asks them to call their bank to increase their daily withdrawal limit. The family also promises they will pay the student back.
Ellie Joo, a Westwood resident who graduated last year, posted on Facebook on Dec. 22 about her encounter with the family, who took more than $1,000 from her.
She said the father in the family had dark hair, a mustache and an average build. The mother was blonde, about 5 feet 4 inches tall with a large build. She was wearing a bracelet and diamond ring she offered in exchange for money. The daughter was about 5 feet 3 inches tall and looked like her mother.
Joo said in an interview said she offered to help them because their child looked sick. She said she felt inclined to help because she had recently been in the hospital herself for an arm injury.
She said the parents then asked her for money to buy medications for their child and drove her to an ATM. They continued to ask her for more money, until one parent withdrew $1,000 from the ATM and drove away, Joo added.
When she called her bank, the representative reimbursed her for the money and recommended she file a police report.
Other students have also reported seeing the family in the area.
Viola You, a second-year music student, said she encountered the family on Midvale Avenue in the North Village during finals week last quarter. She said they told her their son had leukemia and they needed gas money to take him to the hospital.
She said she gave the mother $10, but walked away when she asked for more.
Esther Qui, a second-year statistics and molecular, cell and developmental biology student, said she ran into the family on Gayley Avenue near In-N-Out, where they asked her for money. She said she sympathized with them and gave them $20 because she works with terminally ill patients at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.
The family then told her to go into a store and withdraw $40 from an ATM. Qui said she realized she was being scammed after they asked for more and left.
Qui said the family offered to pay back her money, but never did. Qui also reported the incident to UCPD.
Others also attempted to scam students out of money and other items last year.
University police arrested James Webb Hunter III last October for scamming people out of money by pretending to lease apartments on Craigslist. In July, a county judge sentenced Hunter to 10 days in county jail and a three-year probation.
UCPD recommends students offer help without sharing money or personal information. If the family seems desperate or begins to cry, students should offer to call an ambulance or university police.
