KANSAS CITY, KAN. ? Authorities are searching for a man and woman who flashed fake police badges and persuaded an 81-year-old woman to hand over the contents of her checking account, telling her the money was counterfeit.

The couple then dropped her off at the Wyandotte County Justice Complex and told her to go inside and collect her reward. Sheriff LeRoy Green Jr. spotted her wandering the halls last week and asked her if she needed any help.

“She told her story,” Brad Ratliff, a department spokesman said Thursday. Authorities began investigating because it “didn’t sound right.”

Authorities released details of the investigation this week in case the suspects decided to use the ploy to target others.

Ratliff would only say that the amount taken from the woman’s checking account was more than $1,000.