Waukegan police have carried out a sting operation on against people who allegedly scammed people out of their debit cards and PINs stole money from victims’ accounts.

Police said a resident contacted them this week about being approached on a social media site by someone promising free scholarship money in exchange for a bank debit card and the PIN that goes with it.

The resident agreed to take part in a sting, and set up a meeting. As soon as the debit card was turned over, police arrested 19-year-old Tyler Taylor and 18-year-old Ayale Banks, who allegedly was acting as a lookout.

Police said the duo admitted duping more than a dozen others in Waukegan, Gurnee, Lindenhurst, Round Lake Beach, and Zion.

Both men were charged with attempted deceptive practices for the incident where they were caught in the sting, and deceptive practices for the prior scams. Bond was set at $25,000 each.

Police said the way the scam works is the scammer deposits a bad check into the victim’s account, then withdraws money from the account a few hours later. Once that debit card and PIN are given to someone else, it’s the real owner’s responsibility to pay back the bank for any overdrawn money.