IRVINE – Irvine police are looking for a man they’re calling a person of interest in a scam in which two women were defrauded of more than $12,000 combined.

Police say a 73-year-old woman and an 87-year-old woman, both from other states, were called on separate occasions in November and were asked for money by someone claiming to be their grandson, said Irvine police spokeswoman Kim Mohr.

Each time, the caller said he was in trouble and needed money. He asked the women to buy Target gift cards and provide him with the card numbers over the phone. The women later found out their grandsons had not made those calls.

A suspect was caught on surveillance footage in Irvine Target stores trying to redeem the gift cards. In one case, the suspect called the woman Nov. 3 and was seen in a Target store trying to redeem the card number on the same day.

“It’s looking like a pattern and (detectives) are looking into another case,” Mohr said. “They’re also investigating if there are other cases linked to this person in other cities.”

Anyone who can identify the person of interest or knows about these crimes is asked to contact Irvine Police Department Investigator Sarah Voigt at 949-724-7180 or svoigt@cityofirvine.org; or Detective Britt Vickner at 949-724-7178 or bvickner@cityofirvine.org.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7865 or afausto@scng.com