When someone offers you, a complete stranger, a cut of their lottery winnings if you can "help out with identification" it's a scam. A Batavia man knows that now.

In addition to "needing help" because she had no valid ID, Batavia Police say that 49-year-old Janet Cruz lied about winning a $2 million lottery, telling her victim she couldn't collect the winnings until she put down a certain amount of cash.

How much was that certain amount of cash?

Initially, the woman said that she'd need the victim to provide $20,000 in cash along with his ID to free up the lottery winnings. She promised to cut the victim in for $100,000 if he would help her to collect.

According to Batavia police, the incident occurred the morning of Aug. 8. Cruz approached the victim claiming to have a winning lottery ticket that she could not collect because she lacked proper identification. A man who was nearby offered to help.

Police say Cruz then called a number and spoke to someone who claimed to be from the lottery who said the ticket was worth $2M and Cruz would need two witnesses to claim the prize and the witnesses would need to provide $20,000 each.

Cruz offered the victim and the man $100,000 each for their assistance. They drove to two Batavia banks, where the victim withdrew a total of $5,000, which she gave to Cruz.

Police say Cruz then faked an illness and asked the victim to buy medication for her. While the victim was inside a store, Cruz and the man left. The man is believed to be Cruz’s accomplice.

A Kane County judge has issued a warrant for Cruz's arrest, and records show that she's wanted in Cook County for two instances of the same sort of crime.

This sort of thing, as you may imagine, is not a new trick:

More From WROK 1440 AM / 96.1 FM