The Arlington County Police Department Financial Crime Unit is investigating a pair of con artists who have been preying on northern Virginia residents with a fraudulent lottery ticket scheme.

A fake lottery ticket and the fast talking duo has already cost one woman thousands of dollars, and police say there could be more victims out there.

A man and woman were caught on surveillance video outside a Falls Church store preying upon the kindness of a stranger, scamming her out of almost $10,000 with a phony lottery ticket.

Arlington County police said the couple claimed to have a multi million dollar winning lottery ticket, but told the unsuspecting woman that they needed money from her to ensure them she would not run off with the ticket. Police say the scam artists were able to convince the woman by telling them they could not cash the big ticket because they were in the country illegally.

Driving what appeared to be a white van, the pair of con artists took the woman to two different banks so she could withdraw her money. They promised her a cut of the cash from the ticket, but before that could happen, they took off with her life savings and left her with a bag of fast food.

The two perpetrators were last seen in a white van or SUV with a sliding door. Police are looking for any information on the suspects or from anyone who has been approached in this way about a lottery ticket or check.

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