Three arrested for using lottery scam to take $20,000 from elderly woman in Fontana

Three people were arrested on Tuesday for their alleged part in a lottery scam that led to an elderly Fontana woman being scammed out of $20,000. 

It happened last week on Thursday, Feb. 20, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office. They say that the victim, an unidentified 72-year-old woman, was approached by two females while she was shopping in Montclair. 

"The suspects coerced the elderly victim into believing the suspects had recently won a lottery jackpot, but needed the victim's assistance with collecting the money," SBSD's statement said. "The suspects gained cooperation from the victim and directed the victim to drive them all to her bank."

While they drove to the location, they were followed by additional suspects in a white 2016 Kia Sorrento. 

Upon arriving at the bank, the victim withdrew $18,000 from her bank account. She told the suspects that she had an additional $2,000 at her home in Fontana. The suspects then had the woman drive them to her home, where she gave them the additional money. 

"Before the two female suspects were picked up by additional suspects in the white Kia Sorrento, they gave the victim a package and told the victim it contained her portion of the lottery winnings," the statement said. "When the victim opened the package, she found it was filled with cut up newspapers."

Deputies began to investigate the matter and determined that the woman was taken advantage of because of her age. They were able to positively identify the suspect's vehicle as they continued their probe into the matter and on Tuesday, it was located in the city of Fullerton with the help of the Fullerton Police Department. 

Deputies responded to the area and arrested three Colombia nationals. They have since been identified as Rosalba Bernal-Sanchez, 60, Jairo Naranjo-Lopez, 58 and Kevin Prieto-Bernal, 21, who also has a felony warrant for burglary in Illinois and is on felony probation for burglary in Minnesota, police said. 

The victim positively identified Bernal-Sanchez as one of the two female suspects who initially coerced her. 

"Detectives recovered a large amount of physical evidence linking the suspects to this investigation," SBSD said. "All three suspects were booked at the West Valley Detention Center and are currently being held without bail."

Authorities are still working to identify the second female suspect who approached the woman in the store. They believe that there are still additional victims that were targeted by the group. 

Anyone who may know more is asked to contact detectives at (909) 356-6710.