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Scammer preys on ‘kind-hearted people’ in Esquimalt

Victoria police believe same man behind two demand-for-cash incidents

A scam artist demanded money from passersby on two occasions in Esquimalt.

On Tuesday at 3:30 p.m., a man claiming he had locked his keys inside his car, allegedly demanded cash from passersby to pay for a tow truck at the Esquimalt Plaza.

Police believe the same man allegedly asked people near the Esquimalt Recreation Centre for cash to get to the hospital last Friday (Dec. 16). Witnesses say the man was aggressive both times.

“The claims made by the man were false and this approach is simply a scam to take money from kind-hearted people," Victoria police Deputy Chief John Ducker wrote on the department's operations blog.

The suspect is described as a white male in his 40s, 5'7" tall, thin, with short brown and grey hair, a mustache and scruffy beard. He wearing a khaki baseball cap and a dark jacket.