January 29, 2010
Gary Davidson
Public Information Officer

DEPUTIES ISSUE WARNING ABOUT THREE-CARD MONTE SCAM

Where there are tourists with money, crooks and scam artists are sure to lurk. On Friday, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office issued an alert warning residents about a group of visitors believed to be in town for the upcoming races. They aren’t tourists, but rather a group of traveling con artists who flock to special events and specialize in conning people out of their money with a scam known as the three-card monte. The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office is warning the public after investigating two incidents in the Ormond Beach area in the past few weeks.

Three-card monte is a classic scam in which the con artist shows the victim three playing cards, says that one of them is the target card, and then quickly places all three face down and convinces the victim to bet on whether he can pick out the target card. While the game seems simple enough, the con artists are very skillful at tricking the victims through sleight of hand and misdirection. Often, the con artists work in teams, with an accomplice acting as another player who’s actually winning money to draw the victim in. The game is usually set up on a cardboard box, which allows the suspects to fold up the game and leave in a hurry. And sometimes, the con artists resort to violence.

On Jan. 5, three truckers were drawn into a game of three-card monte in the parking lot of Love’s Travel Stop at U.S. 1 and I-95 near Ormond Beach. They lost a total of $1,000 and a gold ring. Another incident occurred on Jan. 20 at the same location. On that date, one would-be victim said he saw the card game, realized it was a scam and walked away. And on that same day, another trucker was told that someone had hit it big at a casino and was matching other people’s money. The victim was told to show his money if he wanted to get in. But once the victim pulled out $450, the suspect snatched the cash out of the victim’s hands and walked away. The victim tried to follow the suspect, but four or five accomplices suddenly appeared, grabbed the victim from behind and held him. The suspects then quickly scattered.

Volusia County Sheriff’s investigators are working with other jurisdictions to identify the suspects.