          TRAVELING CRIMINALS: TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN 

                               By

                        Gary L. Mazzone 
                             Captain
             Vernon, Connecticut, Police Department


     Throughout the United States, both law enforcement and
consumer protection agencies receive complaints daily of con
games and other criminal scams. While many of these schemes are
perpetrated by con artists who reside and ply their trades only
in their local areas, an increasing number of scams are committed
by highly mobile criminal groups who travel from area to area
stealing from citizens and escaping the detection of law     
enforcement.

     The two major groups of traveling criminals now operating in
the United States--the Rom Gypsies and the Travelers--have long   
histories in North America. Today, these two separate, and often
competing, groups employ similar tactics to steal from
unsuspecting victims. By understanding these groups' methods, law
enforcement agencies can better protect the citizens of their
communities.

DIFFERENT GROUPS, SIMILAR TACTICS

     The Travelers first came to the United States in large
numbers during the English migration of the 1700s and then again
during the Irish potato famine in the 1840s. Today, an estimated
6,000 to 10,000 Travelers reside in the United States. (1)

     Gypsies arrived in North America during the great wave of
European migration from 1880 through the early 1900s.
Gypsologists estimate that approximately 1 million Rom Gypsies
currently reside throughout North America. (2) 

     The two groups do not interact. Travelers resent being
called Gypsies. Gypsies, on the other hand, refer to themselves
as the Rom, speak an unwritten language known as Romaines, and do
not appreciate being mistaken for Travelers. 

     Certainly, not all Travelers or Gypsies participate in
illicit activity. However, those who do generally carry on
criminal traditions that have evolved over many generations.

Home Improvement Scams

     Typically, Travelers and Gypsies who do engage in crime are
on the road plying their trades between 40 and 70 percent of the
year. Members of both groups often represent themselves as
self-employed home improvement contractors. They may pose as
driveway sealers, basement and roof waterproofing specialists, or
painters. As with many con artists, their preferred victims are
the elderly.

     In most cases, the group members do perform some type of
work, though of extremely poor quality. They may spray roofs with
a steam mist that they represent as sealant. The waterproofing
agent used may be, in reality, thinned black paint. Their
driveway sealant may be nothing more than drain oil.

     The initial prices quoted may often appear quite reasonable,
only to be grossly inflated when the job is finished. For
example, a driveway may be quoted as requiring four pails of
sealant at $20 a pail. When the job is completed, the contractor
tells the victims that there must have been a misunderstanding--
the job required 40 pails--and then applies pressure to secure
payment. 

Home Invasions

     Additionally, both groups have been known to commit home
invasions while they negotiate or perform residential improvement
jobs, or as a predetermined sole objective. These invasions
typically involve one or more group members searching for cash or
jewelry, while another member of the group diverts the victim's
attention. Alternately, group members may pose as public utility
workers to gain entrance to a residence. Home invasions may also
be performed openly in front of elderly victims.

SPECIALTIES

Rom Gypsies

     While both Travelers and Rom Gypsies commit many similar
crimes, each group also specializes in particular types of
criminal schemes. Gypsies, for example, often commit a slight
variation of the home invasion scam, using only female group
members to perform the con and to gain entry.

     Gypsies also specialize in fortune telling--often seeking
out elderly victims or individuals who have recently undergone
some emotionally distressing experience. These scams usually
begin innocently with a quick palm reading for $5 to $20. After
gleaning information regarding the victims' lives, the "fortune-
teller" relies on cunning to ensure that they return repeatedly.
Promises of restored relationships, communication with deceased
loved ones, or removal of curses are offered with ever-increasing
fees. One investigation into fortune telling con artists
uncovered a single victim who had paid several thousand dollars
to remove a curse. 

     Additionally, Rom Gypsies specialize in crimes known as
store diversions. (3) Similar to home invasions, the object of
store diversions is to steal a business' daily cash receipts.
Store diversions may involve up to 20 Gypsies entering a store
simultaneously. Some engage clerks in conversation, pretending to
need assistance. The conversations may become boisterous, as
group members demand the employees' attention. Some may openly
shoplift to divert the clerks' attention.

     Once all employees and managers are handling the influx of
troublesome customers, a group member surreptitiously locates the
business office and seizes the cash from the deposit bag. As soon
as the money is secured, the entire group leaves. Store managers
may not have a clue until it is too late--proficient Gypsy
criminal groups can carry out this scheme in a matter of minutes.

Travelers

     Travelers may be involved in the sale of tools and shop
equipment. Some groups commute across the country to solicit
businesses--primarily gas stations, large farms, and construction
companies--to buy hydraulic presses, engine pullers, and related
tools at inflated prices. 

     Although the Travelers will bargain over their original
price quotes, the merchandise is almost always overpriced.
Frequently, the equipment is manufactured using substandard
materials and is of poor quality. Travelers have been known to
market these items with useless lifetime warranties (the
salespersons have no traceable fixed address) under fictitious
company names, such as the Carolina Tool and Equipment Company.

IDENTIFYING FACTORS

     Upon receiving reports of any of these types of activities,
law enforcement officers should first attempt to determine which
of these groups may be involved. Frequently, this can be
determined through the physical descriptions provided by victims.
Victims often describe Rom Gypsies as having dark complexions,
sometimes misidentifying them as Hispanic or Italian. Male
Gypsies are often described as being heavyset; females as wearing
low-cut blouses and long skirts, with their hair fixed in a bun.
Investigators may find such stereotypical descriptions of limited
value. Perhaps more revealing, victims often comment that, when
they were among themselves, the offenders spoke a foreign
language (Romaines), which the victims may identify as Spanish,
Greek, Polish, or Italian.

     Conversely, Travelers will be described as having Anglo
features with light-to-medium complexions. Their hair may be any
color. Many Travelers reside in Southern States and speak with
strong southern accents. When they commit crimes in other parts
of the country, their accents provide a particularly helpful clue
to investigators.

     When engaged in home repair scams, both Rom Gypsies and
Travelers typically use pickup trucks. Officers should take note
of light-duty vehicles bearing unfamiliar contractors' names and
out-of-State registration or license plates--especially trucks
with fluid spraying or asphalt storage units in their beds.

     Travelers often drive late-model, top-of-the-line trucks.
Groups can often be found traveling in caravans on interstate
highways, their well-maintained vehicles carrying such heavy
equipment as hydraulic presses.

     Officers who suspect Rom Gypsy or Traveler activities within
their jurisdictions can often locate the groups in inexpensive
(but not rundown) motels. Both groups also frequent campgrounds,
either public or private. Traveler groups have been known to sell
their trailers by advertising them with signs in the campgrounds
in which they are staying.

PROTECTING THE PUBLIC

     Upon determining Rom Gypsy- or Traveler-related criminal
activity in a jurisdiction, the local law enforcement agency
should transmit a teletype to other public safety agencies within
a 200-mile radius. Both the Rom Gypsies and the Travelers seem to
adhere to the old adage that "a dog does not foul its own yard."
Group members normally establish a "base" for residence and fan
out from there, leaving in the early morning and returning late
in the afternoon. They will generally try to avoid attracting the
attention of the local law enforcement agency where they have
established their base, and thus, may travel an hour or more
before perpetrating their scams.

     Local agencies should also issue press releases warning
citizens that these criminals may be operating in the area. These
releases should include a description of the scams being
committed and should encourage citizens to report immediately to
the police any contact with these criminals. 

     Police-sponsored instructional seminars for merchants
associations often prove successful safeguards against store
diversions. Such seminars generally teach store managers and
employees how to recognize a store diversion in its initial
stages and provide merchants with appropriate response
strategies.

     To protect customers from home invasions, utility companies
routinely assist law enforcement agencies by periodically
including warning fliers with their bills.  These fliers should
include a photograph of the utility company's worker
identification badge and a warning to customers not to allow
unauthorized persons access to their property.

CONCLUSION

     Rom Gypsies and Travelers can be found in nearly every State
in the Nation. Their traditional mobility presents a formidable
challenge to law enforcement. 

     Still, their scams and offenses are predictable. Although
they have honed their cunning through generations of criminal
activity, they generally prey on the same victims--the vulnerable
and the elderly--and commit the same types of crimes in
jurisdiction after jurisdiction. 

     The secret of many Gypsy and Traveler scams is to first gain
the trust and confidence of their victims. Accordingly, when
dealing with such offenders, investigators should keep in mind
this verse from a well-known opera:

     Things are seldom what they seem                             
          Skim milk masquerades as cream,                         
               Black sheep dwell in every fold,                   
                    All that glitters is not gold. (4)

     Because such groups prey on the ignorance, trust, or bad
fortune of others, public safety agencies must be prepared to
protect their citizens from these scam artists by quickly
investigating reported offenses. And owing to the highly mobile
nature of these types of groups, interagency cooperation
represents perhaps the greatest asset law enforcement can employ
in response to these traveling criminals.


ENDNOTES

     (1)  Bruce H. Carter, Gypsies, Travelers, & Thieves, South
Carolina Criminal Justice Agency, Columbia, South Carolina, 21.

     (2)  Gypsy Lifestyles, the Metropolitan Toronto Police
Department, presented at a seminar entitled "Gypsy and Other
Traveling Criminal Organizations," May 5, 1992, Portsmouth, New
Hampshire.

     (3)  Robert P. Meiners, "Store Diversion Burglaries," FBI
Law Enforcement Bulletin, March 1990, 7.

     (4)  HMS Pinafore (opera), Gilbert and Sullivan.