I'

THE HOME "REPAIRMAN"

Beware of the phony "repairman" or "engineer"who offers to check your chimney, furnace, catchbasin or other installation.

Such a person might say he has just completed ajob in your area and has enough 'material left to fixyour roof, or black tar your driveway-he must bepaid in cash-job is done with black oil that neverdries. Beware of phony inspectors who check yourchimney, heating, plumbing and find damage thatmust be repaired to save your house. He will offer acontract for a down payment-he never returns.Beware of Topsoil salesman-you purchasebaskets of it, the man spreads it for you and youlater discover it to be saw dust colored by usedmotor oil.

Examine the credentials of the phony "Con Ed", orGas Company, Meter readers-make sure they arefrom that company before you admit them.

If your auto is damaged and men come to you andoffer to fix it for a low price-you will later find thatthe damage has been repaired with plaster and onecoat of paint which will fall off when riding over abump.

TV SWINDLE

Complainant receives phone call, usually at placeof business, from male who says he was givencomplainant's name by building maintenance man,elevator operator, doorman, etc. Male caller hascolor TV sets, stereos, video tape machines, etc.for sale, either stolen or overstock. He will sell thiswholesale. An appointment is made for that alter-noon or the following morning. The complainant istold to meet the caller with a car or truck at .theloading dock of a retail department store. At theloading dock, complainant it told by male to backvehicle up to platform. Themale takes money fromcomplainant, goes into the loading area and doesnot return.

THE FORTUNE TELLER'

If you have problems, don't let a fortune tellergive you MORE problems!

Never mind what shecalls herself - For-tune Teller, Reader, Ad-viser or Seer . . .Medium, Healer orSpiritualist, PalmReader, Card Reader orPsychic.

She's breaking the law,and she could "break"

. you if you give her achance.

She claims to have wonderful powers. A sign inher front window or a card handed to you on thestreet tells you about her. You're told she can helpyou get a better job, make more money, win backsomeone you love or cure a serious illness. Justany kind of problem you may have.

She does this by reading your palm, cards or tealeaves.

But she deceives you. She's clever. She listensclosely to what you say. If she finds out that youhave money, she may explain that it takes time tohelp you. She tells you, for example, that you havecancer and that there is a big curse to be lifted or"evil spirits" to be driven away. She must exorcisethe evil from your money.

And if you believe she's helping you, she per-suades you to come again and again, chargingmore and more money each time. .

She steals from you. If you don't watch out, shemay also steal money or valuables from you. Orshe gets you to playa switch game, where sheswitches your money for paper.

And she disappears. Her "work" is, of course, il-legal. If she's afraid the police may investigate, sheand her family simply move out-overnight ifnecessary.

TRANSIENT BURGLARY

A female may knock on the door and ask for a glassof water because she is not leeling well. When sheis invited in, she goes into the kitchen and gets aglass of water, at which time another accompliceor two sneak into the house and go to the otherrooms and take money, jewelry or whatevervaluables they find.

PHONEY COP COME BACK

This is a scam where one or more persons approachthe victim of a previous scam by phone or in per-son and pose as detectives investigating a loss.They convince the victim to withdraw money fromthe bank on the pretence that a bank employee isinvolved in the previous scam. The victim turns overthe cash, receives a receipt, is advised that themoney would be redeposited in victims account. Thenext day victim goes to update bankbook, then findsanother scam was perpetrated on him.

:;:~:~~:~:~:

SO, WHAT SHOULD YOU DO if you have a pro-blem? Just talking with a member of your family orwith a trusted friend will help a lot. If necessary, youcan consult a Clergyman, lawyer or doctor. .

POLICE DEPARTMENT CITY OF NEW YORKSPECIAL FRAUDS SQUAD

1 Police Plaza, Room 1108New York, N.Y. 10038 212-374-6850-51-52

BM 65-A (Rev. 2-99)-Pent aas

I\

I'

Beaware ofthe conartist&

thecongame

POCKETBOOK DROP

A stranger, usually a womari opens a conversationwith you in the street. Shortly after, another womanappears with an envelope containing a large sumof money that has just been found. You do not get a

chance to examine themoney. The question ofwhat to do is discussedand resolved, when onestranger states sheworks for a lawyer andshe will ask him what todo. She leaves andreturns, stating that themoney was from gambl·ing and lost by someonetrying to avoid taxes.Her boss said she must

share the money equally with them, but they mustshow they have money of their own.

The first stranger will say she has an insuranceaward with her, she leaves to show it to the lawyer,returns and states he gave her one third of thefound money. "

They instruct you to go to the bank and withdrawcash. The woman who works for the lawyer saysshe will take your money to him. She returns sayingthe lawyer wants to talk to you. He is counting yourmoney. You followdirections to his office,only to find he does notexist, you return to thespot you left thestranger and find theyare gone. You havegiven your money away.

8e alert for a femaleworking alone using acanvas bank deposit a·bag who has victimspeak to her boss overtelephone.

HANDKERCHIEF SWITCH

A man is seeking a hotel or rooming house, hecan't read or write and asks for your help. He iseither a seaman or visitor from another state, set·

tling matters of adeceased relative. Heshows a large sum ofmoney and offers to payfor your assistance.Another man will ap-proach, and caution thestranqer to put themoney in a bank. Thenewcomer says thehotel sought isdemolished, but heknows of a room. The

seaman does not trust banks, and suggests youhold his money until he gets the room. You tell himto put the money in a bank. He says he doesn'ttrust banks, but if you prove you can make awithdrawal, he would put his money in a bank. Yougo to the bank and make a withdrawal. ·He insistsyou hold the money. He gives you his money tied ina Kerchief and begs you to be careful. The secondman suggests you place your money in the samekerchief for safety.

The seaman opens the kerchief and puts yourmoney in with his and ties it up. He will show youhow to carry it, under SA N Kthe arm or in the ~ <;&si?bosom. He may open 1\ -=t:=:lr- --his jacket or shirt and I -: ~ I/ ~I rinsert his hand with the ,,'.r:; 'Ji~ !kerchief, at this time \~ ~switching the kerchief !for another identical ~one. The strangers I j

leave and you examine Ithe handkerchief only to " ~-find you have pieces of newspaper. You have givenyour money away.

SPANISH HANDKERCHIEF SWITCH

A Spanish speaking person is looking for a specificlawyer or real estate operator. He then relates oneof the following stories:

1. His father is dying in South America. Years agohis father worked for a rich man in the UnitedStates. When the rich man died, the father found apackage containing a large amount of money. Thefather stole this money and returned to SouthAmerica where he invested the money wisely andbecame wealthy. Now that he is dying he sends hisson to America to donate the money to charity sothat he may die with a clear conscience; or

2. His father or employer is dying in South America.Years ago a daughter ran away to America. Thedaughter died in childbirth and now this man is sentto pay the hospital bill, have masses said and givemoney to charity so that the old man may die inpeace, not owing anything.

3. He has in his possession a winning LotteryTicket. ..

A second person passes and one of the abovestories is related to him. He says the lawyer is acrook. The first man must return to South Americathe same day, before his father dies. He offers thelawyer's fee to complainant and the second man ifthey will help him disperse the money. However, hestipulates they must prove they are trustworthy byshowing they have money of their own. The secondman leaves and returns in a short time with moneyof his own. Complainant is accompanied to thebank so he can make a withdrawal to stiow he istrustworthy. After complainant obtains his money,there are two ways of separating the complainantfrom it:

- The first man says he feels ill and asks com-plainant to go to the drug store for some medica-tion (or complainant is sent for paper to make adocument to disperse the money). When complai-nant returns, both SUbjects are gone with the com-plainant's money; or

- The first man wants complainant to holdmoney to be donated. The money is usually placedin a cosmetic bag or a handkerchief, alon"g withcomplainant's money. The complainant is shownhow to carry the parcel. '.A1henthe complainantopens it at a later time, he finds either newspaperor play money as a switch was made when com-plainant was shown how to carry the money.

Both male and female Spanish confidenceoperators participate in the above confidenceoperation.

THE BANK EXAMINER

He will usually callwomen on the phoneand use a title from abank or Police Depart-ment. He will tell yousome accounts at thebank, even yours showlarge withdrawal and hesuspects a dishonestemployee. Your co-operation is requested

to trap the thief. The examiner will ask you to go tothe bank and withdraw money from a certain win-dow. You are told to put the money in an envelopeand give it to the examiner or his partner when theyapproach you. They tell you tile money will tieredeposited by them, and you can return to thebank in a few days to have your book adjusted. Youmake your withdrawal, give the envelope to theaqent, who identifies himself to you in the bank.

In a few days, you return to the bank for adjustmentof your bankbook and ttnd that there are no ir-regularities in any of the accounts. You have givenyour money away.

THERE ARE NO CIRCUMSTANCES UNDERWHICH THE POLICE DEPARTMENT OR ANYLEGITIMATE AUTHORITY WILL ASK YOU TOWITHDRAW ANY MONEY FROM A BANK ORSURRENDER YOUR VALUABLES.