By Jeff Lipton
The con team, a woman and two men, struck twice last week, once in Woodmere and once in Inwood and escaped with $800 in cash and $2,000 worth of jewelry from one of the victims.
In the second instance, the intended target quickly caught on to the scam, scaring them away by telling them she was calling the police.
Police are so anxious to follow leads on the trio that they are putting up a reward of up to $2,000 for information leading to an arrest.
According to detectives, a 37-year-old woman was waiting at a bus stop on Sheridan Boulevard in Inwood at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 25, when she was stopped by a woman who claimed she found a bag stuffed with a substantial amount of cash. She said she would be willing to split the money with the unsuspecting victim if she accompanied her to the bank and put up money and her jewelry as collateral, said Det. Jay Valdes of the Nassau County Crime Stoppers.
As they were talking, a male accomplice jumped into the conversation and offered some advice to the women, police said. The female suspect led them into a maroon colored four-door vehicle and they drove to Chase Manhattan Bank on Rockaway Turnpike in North Lawrence, where the victim withdrew her money, detectives said.
At the bank, they met another male accomplice and the victim was driven to her apartment, police said. The victim then handed over her $800 in cash and $2,000 in jewelry she was wearing to the smooth-talking thieves. When the victim made a phone call, the suspects slipped out of her apartment and left her with a wallet full of torn-up paper.
In the second case, a woman was walking to work at West Broadway and Irving Place in Woodmere at 10:45 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 23, when she was approached by what police believe was the same con team, who tried to pull the same exact swindle.
The female suspect said she found a wallet filled with money and offered to split it for some collateral. She was then joined by a male accomplice.
But the intended victim realized what was happening and threatened to call the police, forcing the suspects to flee in the maroon colored car.
They fed her the line but she wasn't going for it, Det. Valdes said.
The female suspect is described as a black woman in her 30s, between 5-feet-4 and 5-feet-8 with a scar on her right ear.
The men were described as black males, 5-feet-10 to 6-feet-tall and weighing about 180 pounds.
Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS. All calls will be kept strictly confidential, police said.
Det. Valdes said the con games usually pick up at this time of year, weeks before the start of the holidays of Thanksgiving, Christmas and Chanukah, when people are more likely to carry large sums of cash. Tis the season, Valdes said. As the holidays get closer, we see a lot of things going on.
Valdes urged residents that if someone approaches them with the offer to split money, they should immediately walk away and then call police.
Police said there is no apparent connection of last week's con games to one that took place at 1 p.m. on Sept. 17 when a woman shopping at the Five Towns Shopping Center on Rockaway Turnpike in North Lawrence was approached by a suspect who said she found a Fed Ex box stuffed with about $15,000 and offered to split it with the woman and another accomplice if the woman put up cash as collateral.
The victim handed over a total of $3,500 and was left holding a box full of papers, police said.
Police officials at the Fourth Precinct also urged residents to be alert for con games, since no one usually is willing to give away money, whether it was found or not.
I can't believe they fall for some of these cons, said one police official. They must be really convincing.
