Crime Watch

BY JERRY DANZIG

Art FraudA prestigious art gallery fell for a fake email message and was defrauded of $31,000. A Madison Avenue art gallery reported to police that they had received an e-mail from a client back last month requesting the transfer of payment to an unknown account for a piece purchased. Gallery officials subsequently found out that the e-mail was fraudulent. Representatives at the gallery, which was identified as being between 76th and 77th Streets, reported the incident last week. Police said an investigation is ongoing.

Unwelcome DiscoveryA 78-year-old woman who had just moved into a new apartment at 66th Street between Fifth and Madison Avenues reported to police that she had been burglarized of items worth about $35,000. The day after her move, she discovered that a drawer of silverware was empty, and an expensive necklace and earrings were missing as well. She reported the incident on Dec. 18. Apparently, only the moving company personnel had access to her premises at the time.

Fire Escape ScrapeSometime between 8 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 10 and the following Sunday night, someone entered the apartment of a 25-year-old woman living on 90th Street between First and Second Avenues, accessing her premises via a fire escape door. The woman realized something was amiss when she saw that door was open and her laptop and two checks of an unspecified amount were missing. The laptop is valued at $1,600.

Deceitful DepositsAt noon on Thursday, Dec. 10, a 71-year-old woman living on 71st Street between First and Second Avenues noticed several unauthorized withdrawals from her checking account, totaling more than $13,000. Apparently, unknown perpetrators had deposited fraudulent checks in her account and immediately withdrawn money before the deposited checks cleared. The total amount withdrawn in the scam came to $13,050.

Idle ThreatAt 1:50 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 13, a 55-year-old woman pulled her car over to the curb at 62nd Street and York Avenue. She left the car idling with the keys in the vehicle while she opened the car’s trunk to remove some property. She closed the trunk only to see an unknown person drive off in her car. The vehicle, a 2013 Nissan Rogue, was later recovered.