One of the reasons then that a whole culture, one with stealing as a way of life, could be this focused on crime is that for them it pays. Where else can a group of people, who by choice remain unskilled, functionally illiterate and poorly educated, make that kind of money, tax free?
The typical Gypsy fortune telling parlor (ofisa) takes in on average $250,000 in cash per year. There have been victims conned out of $170,000 over time. 7 victims in Connecticut were taken for more than $270,000 by a mother-daughter Gyspy team. A similar team in Peoria, Illinois, took 15 people for a combined $600,000 before getting caught. In fact, the Illinois Department of Criminal Investigation began compiling any reported data it could on large-scale Gyspy fortune telling crime and between 1982 and 1988 documented a sum of $4,286,764 stolen from people by Gypsy psychics. And that only reflects the very few cases that were reported. Most aren't since the victims are far too embarrassed to tell anyone they've been conned in this fashion.
Authorities who study Gypsy con artists believe that nationwide the Gypsies run a multi-billion dollar crime industry.
You need to understand that crime is part of the Gypsy culture, just like members of the Mafia see what they do simply as "business".
Also, you have to understand that Gypsies belong to a very unusual, very strict society that in many ways hasn't changed for a long, long time. Gypsies have many rules and traditions, a quasi-Christian belief system that's more about warped, superstitious rules that define the social order of the Gypsy culture than it is about practicing any Christian values as we know them (and has nothing to do with truly helping gadje or non-Gypsies -- other than helping them out of their money).
Gypsies are basically brainwashed themselves into a very powerful culture. Breaking the laws of Gypsy society means facing the possibility of being outcast from it. As mentioned in the previous question, "What is a Gypsy?", Gypsies are taught that their ancestry involved stealing in the name of God, and as such God has thus rewarded them with the license to steal from non-Gypsies as a means to live.
In learning how to con people, Gypsies have been able to scam incredible sums of money from their victims.
(Source: License To Steal: Traveling Con Artists, Their Games, Their Rules -- Your Money, Paladin Press, 1994)
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