CURIOUS WORLD

AGGRESSIVE PANHANDLING HAS GOTTEN OUT OF HAND

Russian police are reporting a steep increase in what they call "Gypsy Hypnosis," in which victims are robbed of great sums of money by total strangers who seem to be able to put them into a hypnotic trance. Detectives in Moscow process between 300 and 400 cases a year in which victims claim that a chance encounter with a stranger ends with them being swindled out of thousands of dollars. They claim that the stranger's intense stares, mesmerizing babble and warnings of curses on their loved ones somehow force them to hand over any amount of money. "These are people who have honed their skills to perfection; they have been pulling these …