$900,000 "jewelry swap" theft ring baits elderly victims with kindness, NYPD says

A clever jewelry theft scheme is prompting a warning from the NYPD. 

It involves cleanings, blessings, and real jewelry replaced with fakes. 

"It's so fast"

NYPD Lt. Kevin Kelly said they're called jewelry swaps. Kelly walked through two similar incidents that took place in Queens in recent months. 

In one video, a young woman flagged down a 76-year-old who was out picking up the mail on March 13th in Queens Village. The young woman asked her for directions. The young woman can be seen giving multiple pieces of jewelry to the 76-year-old, who doesn't know she was being distracted. The $3,000 necklace around her neck was taken during the process. 

"It's so fast. You think people are being nice, or giving you a blessing, but they're removing it," Kelly said. 

Another video shows thieves calling a passerby over to their white SUV. The victim, in her sixties, didn't realize until she got home that the $900 necklace she was wearing was gone. 

"You see the suspect's hands around the victim's neck, putting the fake jewelry on and simultaneously remove her real jewelry," Kelly said. 

"Don't let someone get too close to you"

Those two incidents are tied to a pattern, Kelly said. There have been 11 incidents in Brooklyn in Queens, with over $900,000 worth of jewelry stolen. 

Police have made three arrests. Sources said one of them is 22-year-old Stefania Alexandru, a Romanian national. She's charged with grand larceny. 

"What we're telling you is don't let someone get too close to you. Don't let someone put their arms on you," Kelly said.