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The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
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Women Promising to Lift a 'Curse' Scammed Victims Out of Nearly $500K: NYPD

 Police are looking for five women they say have scammed victims out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in a scam claiming to lift a curse on the victims' families.
Women Taking Money and Jewelry in Anti-Curse Scam
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MANHATTAN — Police are looking for a group of five women they say have scammed women in three boroughs out of nearly a half-million dollars so far by claiming they need jewelry and money in order to lift a curse on the victims’ families.

The women approach the victims in groups of three and claim the victims’ families have been cursed, and that they must bring the suspects all of their jewelry and money in a bag so that a blessing ritual can be performed and the curse can be lifted, police said. 

After promising to give the property back to the victims, the suspects later return the bags filled with bottles of water in the place of the victim’s belongings, police said. 

The tricksters have targeted women in their fifties and sixties in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Sunset Park and Bath Beach in Brooklyn, and in Flushing, Queens during the past three months, according to authorities.

Suspects first approached a 55-year-old woman in the Lower East Side in front of 191 Grand St. on April 27 at around 11:15 a.m., and took some jewelry of unknown value and $280,000 in cash from the victim, police said. 

On April 27 at about 3 p.m., suspects approached a 61-year-old woman in front of 73 Bay 22nd St. in Bath Beach, Brooklyn and made off with $130,000 in cash, police said.

Suspects on May 10 at around 11 a.m. approached a 53-year-old woman at the intersection of Bowne Street and Franklin Avenue in Flushing, Queens, taking $20,000 from the victim, according to authorities.

Suspects then took $10,000 worth of jewelry and $10,000 in cash from a 69-year-old woman in front of 122 Delancey St. in the Lower East Side on June 4 at 10 a.m., police said.

Most recently, on June 22 at around 3 p.m., the suspects took $3,000 worth of jewelry and $19,000 in cash from a 54-year-old woman in front of 955 48 St. in Borough Park, Brooklyn, police said.

Police have released photos of the suspects.

Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).  The public can also submit tips by logging onto the Crime stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.