Authorities are on the alert for con men posing as telephone salesmen or repairmen.
Police say they are preying on elderly residents of Chinatown and Elysian Park and are warning residents to be cautious.
"They seem to take advantage of elderly residents and persons with limited English ability," said Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Lt. Paul Vernon.
The phony repairmen are going door-to-door and stealing money, Vernon said.
The first reported incident occurred May 10, when two men posing as AT&T employees entered the Chinatown apartment of a 92-year-old woman and her adult niece, Vernon said.
One of the men distracted the resident while the other apparently searched the apartment. When the two men left, the resident discovered $2,000 cash missing from a drawer, Vernon said.
The suspects are described as "just under six feet tall," one with an "East Coast accent," the other a 300-pound Hispanic, according to Vernon.
