PLAYERS: Mostly white males. The catch will only have direct contact with the victim by way of telephone. Accomplice (pickup man) will usually pose as a police detective or a bank security officer.
 
 VICTIMS: Retired senior citizens, both male and female.
 
 CONTACT: Initial contact is always by telephone. This call is made several days or weeks before the actual offense. The purpose of this call is to gather information about the intended victim's bank account. The setup man will claim to have dialed a wrong number, or is conducting a survey for some type of free service for the elderly. Once this information is obtained, the setup man calls the victim again. This time, however, he poses as a bank official investigating the activities of a dishonest bank employee. The employee is said to be removing money from the victim's account.
 
 CON: If the victims agree to help the bank in their efforts to catch the dishonest teller, they are instructed to withdraw money from their account, usually $5,000 or less. The setup man will frequently follow the victim into the bank to ensure that the teller does not call the police. Once the victim obtains the money they return home to await the arrival of a police detective. They lead the victim to believe that this detective will mark the money as evidence.
 
 Immediately on entering the home the victim receives a call from the setup man. His first question will be, "Have the police arrived yet?" (It is at this point that many victims hand the phone to any legitimate officers that might be in the home. End of scam.) If no officers are on the scene, the pickup man appears and marks the victim's money. This money is then placed into a sealed envelope. Using a variety of distractions, the envelope is switched with one containing blank paper.
 
 KISSOFF: Victims are instructed to return the marked money to their bank on the following day. According to the suspects, the bank will, of course, contact them after the investigation is completed, and will also credit their account with a cash reward for their assistance in this most sensitive investigation.