Deputies in Lancaster saw the women holding boxes with a picture of a boy, and asking for donations to help pay for his burial expenses. The women were standing on the corner of 17th Street West and Avenue K.
The deputies were pooling their own money to make a donation, when they started asking the women what happened to the boy.
They got suspicious when the women's answers didn't make sense. All three were arrested and booked on grand theft.
Investigators said the women admitted the boy pictured on the box is the 18-month-old nephew of one of the women, and he was alive and healthy.
If you have any information regarding this scam or donated money to the women, you're urged to call the Lancaster sheriff's station at (661) 948-8644.
