BY DAVE PARRO
A second victim has come forward and admitted to police he was scammed by a woman posing as a faith healer in Aurora. The two reports both involved a pregnant Hispanic female going by the name Angelica who promised treatment or blessing and then disappeared with large amounts of cash -- in the first case, $30,000.
That's quite a bill for a bad back, even if "Angelica" had cured the 45-year-old Aurora man. The victim told police he saw an advertisement for the woman's services on a flier posted at a grocery store in the 600 block of East New York Street. He went to address listed, dropped off the money, and was told to return the next day. Guess what happened next?
Unfortunately, this appears to be a fairly common scam in Hispanic communities across the United States because of a widespread belief in "curanderos."
News stories about similar incidents in San Jose and Oregon give insight into why Hispanic communities in particular are targeted by these con artists: a belief in faith healers is common because of deep religious conviction, and a distrust of banks means Latinos have more cash on hand. Illegal immigrants are also less likely to visit doctors or use health-care facilities because of a lack of insurance or fear of deportation.
It's unbelievable to most of us how anyone could trust a total stranger and just give away so much money, but it does speak to a larger need in the Hispanic community for access to health care and information, which will come through immigration reform and integration. Faith healers might be common in Mexico and other Latin American countries, but immigrants shouldn't be susceptible to these types of scams here.
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