Melissa Smith from San Diego, California, was running some errands downtown when she spotted a pregnant beggar standing behind the shopping mall.
She had seen this woman many times before. But on this day, something just felt off. When Melissa realized what the young beggar was up to, she was furious.
East Lake Village Center
The beggar was standing next to the shopping plaza called East Lake Village Center. This big shopping mall contained many expensive shops, restaurants, hair salons, and grocery stores.
The beggar knew this place would be full of people willing to give her some coins or food. But she had a huge flaw in her plan.
California
California is home to many glamourous residents and celebrities, but it is also known for its large number of homeless people.
Melissa was aware of it, and it didn't bother her most of the time. But she just felt uneasy about this pregnant woman in particular.
She Felt Bad For Her
Every weekend, she would see her in her usual spot behind the shopping center. “I felt bad. There’s a pregnant lady with a little boy who is down on her luck,” she recalls.
Melissa eventually dismissed her gut feeling. She genuinely felt bad for the young mother. But little did she know, the pregnant woman wasn't who she thought she was.
A Notorious Trio
The pregnant beggar wasn't always on her own with her child. Melissa recalls seeing a young man with them on a few occasions, who she assumed was the little boy's father.
People sympathized with the trio.
People Helped Them
After all, it's not every day you see a pregnant beggar. Passerbys would drop dollar bills into her collection cup and buy them drinks and sandwiches.
But one day, something happened that stirred a deep suspicion in Melissa.
Feeling Guilty
The pregnant beggar seemed to have mastered the art of begging. She knew people would pity her, so she tried her best to catch their attention.
When customers saw a young woman with a huge belly and a little boy by her side, they couldn't help but feel a little guilty.
Curious
The woman's cardboard sign read "Please Help," and of course, many people felt bad for the single mother and gave her some cash.
Was she being genuine? Or was she a con artist? Melissa had to find out, but she had no idea what she was getting herself into.
The Day Of
One day, Melissa decided to go to the shopping center in the evening and stop for a smoothie before closing time.
She would usually run her errands in the morning, but today, she decided to switch up her routine.
She Wasn't There
When Melissa arrived at the mall, she immediately noticed that the pregnant woman wasn't at her usual spot.
Melissa couldn't help but worry that something had happened to her. She hoped she was okay. Then, on her way home from the shopping center, Melissa realized she was running low on gas.
At the Gas Station
She pulled over to fill her tank at the gas station opposite the East Lake Village Center. As she filled her tank, she noticed a familiar face.
It was the pregnant beggar and her son. Then, suddenly, a car stopped right beside them. Melissa's suspicions started to grow. Were they in trouble?
Mercedes Benz
She got a better look at the car, and her jaw dropped when she saw the Mercedes Benz logo. The driver was the woman's boyfriend!
It was obvious to Melissa that he had money. “They were leaving, and I noticed they went in a Mercedes Benz. I thought, ‘Wow, a Mercedes Benz?’” she recalls.
She Followed Them
The vehicle also appeared to be brand-new. Confused, Melissa got into her car and followed the pregnant woman and her partner.
She documented her entire car ride on her cellphone. What happened next shocked her to the core...
Scammers
“Lo and behold, they were in front of us. Here they are counting money, laughing. Their little boy is not in a car seat or a seat belt. He’s all the way in the front seat with them,” Melissa recalls.
She was furious. She knew she had to warn everyone about these con artists. But she wasn't prepared for what happened next.
They Made Another Stop
The couple went to another shopping center not too far from the East Lake Village Center.
It seemed like they had done this many times before. The car stopped, and the beggar got out and started to fool people again.
Taking Photos
“She sits there with the sign. He goes and parks the Mercedes. They put up the sign, and not less than five minutes; here she is getting money from all these people,” Melissa recalls.
Melissa got closer to the beggar and her son and started taking photos, hoping they wouldn't notice her.
Spotted
When the pregnant woman realized Melissa was taking photos of them, she became furious and started screaming at her.
“Next thing I know, she picked up this big boulder,” Melissa recalls. “I don’t know if pregnant people can do that, but it was pretty big over her head and coming at me with this rock.”
She Took Off
As one of the witnesses pulled out her phone to call the police, the beggar quickly realized what was happening and took off with her son.
But what the woman didn't know was that Melissa would post everything online.
Warning Others
Melissa knew she couldn't let the woman get away with scamming people so easily. So, she posted the photos on social media and contacted a news station.
She wanted everyone in the area to know that this woman was a scammer. The news station was so interested in Melissa's story that they decided to run a license plate from the car that came to pick the woman up that day.
The Truth
They were shocked to discover that the Mercedes Benz was in the woman's name! There was also an undisclosed address.
It turns out that the apartment complex where the beggar lived was called Encinitas Heights Apartments and her rent was at least $2,500 a month.
Breaking News
The journalists arrived at the location and rang the doorbell, hoping it would turn into an exciting story. But no one opened the door.
In the meantime, Melissa continued to document everything.
"They Don't Need Money"
“I feel bad. Don’t give these people money. They don’t need it. They’re driving a Benz,” Melissa said.
Then, one witness called the news station and said she spotted the same woman at another shopping center a few hours ago.
Locating The Scammer
When Emily Valdez learned that the scammer was still in the area, she got into her car and drove to the shopping center.
But when she saw her, she was shocked.
"Is This You?"
Two days had passed since Melissa took photos of the beggar, and now this woman was walking around with a newborn!
“Is this you, begging?” Valdez and the camera crew asked the woman as they showed her the photo of the pregnant beggar at the East Lake Village Center. But the woman told her she didn't speak English. Was she lying?
Identical
The woman who was holding a newborn was also with a little boy who looked identical to the one Melissa had seen a few days ago.
Then, the father arrived.
80% Match
He dismissed the camera crew and told his girlfriend to follow him to the parking lot.
The camera crew filmed them getting into a minivan with dealer plates. The team ran facial recognition on both women, and the results matched them at 80%. Could it have been a coincidence?
Leslie Albright
The man said something to the woman in Spanish and then something in another foreign language. When Valdez heard the second language, she immediately called the experts.
Leslie Albright had worked as a detective at the San Diego Police Department for over 25 years. So when she watched Valdez's video, she knew there was more to the story than meets the eye.
Organized Crime Ring
Leslie had served as a specialist in underground crime rings, and she was aware that there was a growing problem in the community.
She immediately recognized the language in the recording, and she believed the couple belonged to an organized crime ring.
Criminals
The beggar and her partner had entered the U.S. illegally with the goal of committing crimes on a daily basis.
They owned several cars and resided in an expensive apartment complex.
They Were Partners
Leslie believed that they weren't in a relationship, and they just worked together to fool people. They used the pregnancy trick to get sympathy from the kindhearted customers.
But what other crimes had the ring committed?
Moving Around
The members of this crime ring rarely stay in one city for long. This helps them to avoid getting caught by the authorities.
They move to another city or state as soon as they get wind that the police are onto them. But would the authorities catch this couple?
New Information
A few days later, one unnamed man revealed all the details on Reddit after seeing the video of the scammers on the news.
“…I had a friend of a friend tell me that they knew them and that they’re just a hustling pair of Con Artists whose families conned their way into the country," he wrote.
The Dark Past
The man also said that he knew all the details of the woman's dark past and that she had a difficult life.
She was forced to join the crime ring when she was still a teenager.
She Used A Foam Prop
After the man shared the information on Reddit, he removed his account because he feared the crime ring organizers would find him.
He also revealed that the woman in the video used a foam prop to fake her pregnancy. This helped her collect more than $500 daily. But she wasn't the only one using this trick.
"Family Business"
Organized crime rings like this one are run by men who promise food and shelter to the women who join the ring either by choice or force.
“They’ll use the babies, children, any way they can… the children will not go to school because their job and their future is the Family Business,” Leslie said in an interview.
Taking Advantage
“People should know, there’s PLENTY of service and organizations that exist to help people and ESPECIALLY for women with children," she continued.
"They’re taking advantage of them all as well as scamming people at the parking lot entrances. Neither of them is reporting the money they’re making from her begging, and both are claiming poverty to get state and federal assistance.”
Threats
The unnamed man who shared the information on Reddit soon started receiving threatening calls and texts.
But he had one more thing to share before he deleted his account.
"The BMW Scammers"
“They might be up and trying this scam again, or it might be another woman, either way, call the cops on them, making sure to tell the dispatch that they’re “the BMW scammers," he wrote.
"So they’re identified and the state can start the proper deportation proceedings against them… don’t help any of them or give money to any of the panhandlers you might see."
Still Searching
The authorities are still trying to locate the men who run these organized crime rings, and the locals have become more careful of the strangers they give their money to.
We can only imagine what other crimes this California crime ring is responsible for...