They stood on the corner of busy intersections holding a hand-scrawled black marker on yellow paper sign that said “Funeral Donations.” In the center of the poster was a picture of baby boy with a name underneath and his supposed days of birth of death. They said they were collecting money for his funeral arrangements. But after police responded to calls that the women were blocking intersections, it turned out to all be a sham.

The women, 27 and 20, initially told officers that their 6-month old son had died of a heart condition in the hospital while they were on vacation. But when pressed for details like where the child died, the name of the doctor or the child’s city of birth, they were evasive.

Further questioning revealed the baby’s picture had been downloaded off the internet.

The women raked in $640 before their scheme was stopped. The two were charged with taking money under false pretenses and with conspiring to defraud the public.

Police Arrest Two For Alleged Baby Funeral Scam [sacramento.cbslocal]

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