Hug at McDonald's costs woman $100,000

Filed under: What's Wrong with Wisconsin?

Wisconsinites apparently will stoop low enough to scam old ladies who just go out to get a quick bite to eat at their local McDonald's. These thieves lucked out with their pick, scoring $100,000 after breaking into the woman's home.

We shouldn't be surprised.

A 75-year-old Milwaukee woman visited a McDonald's at 1:30 p.m. Dec. 30 for lunch. As she was leaving, a stranger approached her to give her a hug. After asking her if they knew each other, the strange woman insisted they had met before and continued to small talk. The victim told the woman that her mother had just died. The suspect then asked her for her address because she said she wanted to send the woman flowers.

More from Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

That hug was the beginning of a scam that resulted in the theft of $100,000, cash the victim's recently deceased mother kept in a closet at home, Milwaukee police said Sunday.

Police are looking for help in finding four people suspected of participating in the scam.

Detectives think the crew was trolling for a target that day at McDonald's, but the criminals would have no way of knowing the woman they found had that kind of cash at home.

"They just hit the jackpot," said Milwaukee police Detective Robert St. Onge.

When the woman returned to her home, she saw two people leaving her backyard. She then discovered her mother's bedroom ransacked and the $100,000 missing. The victim said she kept the money in her home because she didn't trust the bank.

Lessons to learn: Don't hug or interact with strangers, particularly at McDonald's. And don't leave $100,000 just sitting in a metal box.

Posted by Emily Kaiser