North Aurora warns residents about scams targeting eldery

The village of North Aurora is warning residents about two recent scams targeting elderly people.

The first scam involved a man who approached homeowners about their landscaping to distract them while two others entered their home and stole valuables.

The white man in his 20s who spoke to the victims was talking to someone on a walkie-talkie before he walked away. He was described as 5 feet, 10 inches tall with blonde hair and blue eyes and was wearing jeans, blue shirt, and a blue handkerchief over his mouth.

The three scammers arrived in a dark gray SUV and made off with safe, jewelry, collectible coins and cash from the home.

The village advises residents not to take repair suggestions from someone knocking at their door and not to allow anyone inside their home without checking their references and solicitor permits. Don't walk outside to look at what the person is claiming needs to be repaired because that's when someone else could enter your home.

When in doubt, call 911.

In the second scam, an elderly resident called a number she thought was for a bank after she was prompted to by a virus alert on her computer.

The person the woman spoke to on the phone told her there was a charge on her account for porn and gambling and that she needed to purchase Target gift cards to offset the charges, according to the news release. The woman bought several thousand dollars worth of Target gift cards and provided them to the person on the phone.

Never pay anyone - including a bank, government agency, utility or business - using gift cards. None of these places would actually accept gift cards as payments, the news release said.

If you receive an alert that you think might be legitimate, don't call the number listed. Instead, look up the contact info on your own.