Text 2. The pigeon drop scheme

This scheme is popular among con-artists.

A well-dressed young woman approaches the selected victim, usually an old woman. The young woman will claim she has just found a bag, briefcase or envelope and inquire about the ownership.

She will casually start talking to the prospective victim, attempting to be a friend with her by chatting about children or grandchildren, when the third woman comes by looking for the owner of this found bag, or asking "Did you drop this envelope full of money?"

When three women look inside the bag for identification, they find what appears to be a large amount of cash with some indication that it comes from an illegal activity, such as gambling or drug money. Nobody knows who has lost money, so your returning of money is ruled out as impossible.

A very sophisticated scheme is for victims, who believe, that two women working as a team, have really found a bag of money and want to share it.

At first they will talk excitedly about the sum of money in the bag and what each could do with the money if it were hers, skillfully involving you into the benefits of the scheme.

One of two young women will probably claim that she works for someone, perhaps a lawyer, who will know what to do with the lost money. They try to draw you further into the discussion and decision-making.

A call is made on the spot, and then you are told by one of the con artists that she has consulted with a lawyer, who states that if they want to share the money they will have to show proof that they have sufficient funds to support themselves during the time the lawyer will try to seek the true owner.

He gives the recommendation that each person should deposit a certain amount of money:

• to provide evidence of "individual financial responsibility",

• as "good faith",

• to show that all those involved, are acting above-board, into a safety deposit box or his trust account, to see if anyone claims it first before dividing it up.

You withdraw and put from $2000 to $3000 in the bag with the found money and other "good faith" money already deposited by two con women. They then use a variety of tactics to deceive you.

The one, who claims to work for the lawyer, offers you to take your money to him, then returns, saying the lawyer wants to talk to you. They give you a name and an address which turn out to be bogus, or you may wait a week before calling, giving them time to move on.

You may be asked to take the bag containing the money to the lawyer's office, while the con women park the car or go to the bathroom. Out of your sight, they can switch the bag for one containing paper of similar weight.

The victim, a pigeon, holding a bag of paper scraps, loses not only the hope of a quick profit, but also her own money.

There are various reasons, why this works when criminals deal with old women.

• their vision may be blurred by hopes of getting something for nothing,

• victims become concerned that resistance will result in physical violence,

• they often carelessly carry large sums of ready cash.

The cons know what to say, how to behave and they choose as many victims as possible in a short period of time.

Some victims experience such high degrees of shame and fear, that they don’t tell anybody about their victimization. They don’t go to the law enforcement agencies. Criminals know about it and continue their fraudulent operations.