The same two suspects appear to be connected to at least three burglaries, one in Burlingame, one in San Mateo, and one in Fremont, in which homeowners were distracted by one suspect in their backyard while the other one broke into their home and robbed them.

The scam goes like this: A woman comes to the door claiming to be with Animal Control and saying she needs to inspect the backyard and lay traps for poisonous snake abatement, because a neighborhood girl was recently bitten. The woman's male "supervisor" is typically present, and while she escorts the homeowner to the backyard and speaks to them about the snake issue, the male suspect looks around the house for easy things to steal, like jewelry, or in one case, a coin collection.

This little ruse is not dissimilar from this one that we heard about last week involving an elderly couple in Oakland who were robbed by some fake PG&E workers.

The female was described in all three incidents as a heavyset Hispanic woman with blond hair, about 5 feet 2 inches tall, with a "Bronx-type" accent. The woman also appears to have been involved in a door-to-door operation in the small town of Niles, but this time with a female accomplice, last Saturday.

So, this lady grifter's getting around! Beware, homeowners!

[KTVU]
[NBC Bay Area]