Police Blotter: Babysitter Conned on Craigslist for Almost $4K

The following information was supplied by the 78th Precinct of the NYPD. It does not indicate a conviction.

Craigslist Con

A clever crook conned a Park Slope woman out of nearly $4,000 after meeting on Craigslist on May 6.

The victim told police that she posted an ad on Craigslist saying that she was a babysitter looking for work and a woman responded to the ad and forwarded the victim a check for $3,561.99. The con artist told the babysitter to deposit the check into her bank account and wait for it to clear and then to wire the money back to her. The woman complied, but soon her bank account had a negative balance of nearly $4,000, leaving the babysitter responsible for the negative balance in her account.

Thief Improvement

A quick-handed crook stole a woman’s tote bag filled with electronics, cash and credit cards while she was shopping at a Second Avenue hardware store on May 5.

The 35-year-old victim told police that she put her tote bag in her shopping cart while she was shopping at Lowe’s near 12th Street at around 1:55 p.m. But five minutes later she noticed that her bag was gone. The thief got away with the woman’s iPad, iPhone, her wallet with a checkbook, five credit cards, two debit cards, a $500 gift card and $80 cash.

Diagnosis: Crook

A man stole cash and electronics from his suitemate while sharing a hospital room on Sixth Street at New York Methodist on May 3.

The 51-year-old victim told police that he fell asleep in his hospital bed between Seventh and Eighth avenues at around 12 p.m., but when he woke up two hours later, he saw that his suitemate, a 31-year-old man closed the door. The victim told him that it was against policy to close the door and then the crook ran out of the room with the man’s credit card, iPhone, iPad and $60 in cash.