f someone said they could double your
money with a secret formula, what would
you do? It's one of the oldest scams in
the book, and police say hucksters have
been running it right here in Tampa.
Watch the video of the arrest
Undercover detectives just arrested
three Liberian Nationals who allegedly
ran the scam out of their hotel room in
Tampa. They say the men took their cash,
wrapped it in tape and dipped it in a
bucket of chemicals, then tried to
switch it for a worthless rag also
wrapped in tape.
"It's
sleight of hand, and people actually
fall for it," said Tampa Detective Fred
Naranjo.
Detectives say the suspects' secret
formula was actually Coke, ammonia, and
iodine. They are asking anyone who may
have been ripped off to give them a
call.
According
to investigators, the suspects
approached people and told them they had
a magic chemical. Police say they
claimed it would transfer ink from money
to blank white paper.
Detectives say there's are at least two
variations to this scam. Sometimes they
show the victims black paper, claim its
painted money they smuggled through
customs, then sell chemicals they claim
will get the paint off. Sometimes they
offer the formula that clones money. In
this version, they tell victims they
have wait six hours before you open the
tape, and that's how victims get duped.
Police
say the suspects have been here since
Saturday, and were in Orlando before
that. They don't know how many victims
they may have scammed.
Detectives arrested the suspects in an
undercover sting. They've been charged
with grand theft and scheming to defraud