1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
I remember when in the good old romantic post-Soviet days I was returning home from school. It was a nice February day, warm enough for a relaxing walk, which was a better choice compared to a trip on a packed bus, a place where nobody knows what personal space is. I noticed some gypsies on my way. Traditionally, adults in Russia always used the image of a gypsy to scare kids; they told children to behave properly or else the people in bright clothing would kidnap them. Mothers and fathers (and especially babushkas and dedushkas) also mentioned some evil eye, but never elaborated. Gypsies were also famous for robbing apartments by asking for a glass of water. When you go away to fill the glass they were supposed to steal all your valuables. This series of flashbacks zoomed in my mind as I approached a group of gypsies. One of them, carrying a baby on her chest moved aside, and another politely asked me how to get to the train station. Being a polite person myself, I went into detailed explanations. When I stopped, she thanked me, telling how helpful and nice I was. In return she decided to save me from some upcoming scary family troubles and protect me from an evil eye. All I had to do was to take out the highest bill I had and give it to her. I will return it to you, she convinced me. And all the money you have will double. It sounded like a reasonable offer. I pulled out a ten thousand-ruble bill (Russian people were rich back then) and gave it to the gypsy. She told me to look at her hand and something flashed into my eyes
I think I gave her about forty thousand, which was about eight bucks back then. Not much, but I felt robbed. However when I came home I checked the remaining cash for the doubling phenomenon. The money did not double.
A young Moscow student never expected what an encounter with an elderly lady asking for a nearby dentists office would cost her. She was as polite as I was and helped the woman. In exchange, the girl was psychologically knocked down by an avalanche of frankness. She found out that her dad has a mistress and her parents would divorce and that she herself might never get married or have any children. The lady explained the misfortune with some cursed garment that the girl owned, something that she received as a gift. The swindler was experienced: she knew that a young student would not be able to buy an expensive fur coat. The girl was told that in order to take the curse off she had to give the coat to the woman, walk across the street, and draw several crosses on the snow with her right foot. And the girl obeyed.
That was how a swindler earned a coat costing fifteen hundred dollars in a couple of minutes. Nice, huh?
Police files hold a lot of cases when poor victims willfully gave their money (in many cases it was thousands of dollars) to random people on the street. Police itself is helpless, because in general people never keep the numbers of the money bills they have. The only way to accuse swindlers of crime is to find a recognizable item owned by a victim. According to the professional detectives, this kind of a swindle is traditional among gypsies. The ability to hypnotize is inherited by women and guarantees modern nomads a considerable income.
Gypsies changed their image. Instead of wearing colored quilt-like clothing, they changed into regular civilized garments, so if a Slavic looking woman offers her help in taking some curse off of you, dont trust her. Chances that you are still facing a gypsy swindler are very high. Recently, many native Russian cheaters learnt to use street hypnosis. The major difference is that gypsy hypnotists act really fast. Their goal is to take the victims mind under their control for just a few minutes when the person is making an important decision. Many victims cannot clearly explain why they gave all their money to a stranger.
How to stay safe when talking to such people? Well, the solution is simple: do not talk to them. You might look impolite, stop giving money to poor gypsy kids, and quit telling people how to get to a beauty saloon, but you will never turn into a victim. Sounds fare?
