CHICAGO (STMW) - Police on the North Side are warning elderly residents of a scam in which a man and woman are stealing money from people at senior living buildings, police said Friday.

A woman contacts the elderly victims by phone and tells them their financial accounts have been compromised, according to a community alert from Belmont Area detectives.

The woman provides the elderly victim with specific instructions to obtain funds from their accounts, the alert said. The victim is further informed the money withdrawn from the account may be fake and a man will be sent to the victim’s home to retrieve the money and verify its authenticity.

The woman tells the elderly victim that secrecy is necessary to catch the criminals, police said.

Most of the crimes have happened at senior living buildings, and have happened throughout the day, the alert said.

Police are warning residents not to give personal information over the phone, and that a credit card company will not ask for a social security number.

Police also warn not to give account numbers to anyone, and to hang up and call police if the caller’s identity is uncertain.

© Sun-Times Media Wire Chicago Sun-Times 2010. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.