Boston police are seeking the public’s help identifying three men who allegedly cornered people outside stores Saturday and stole thousands of dollars from them under the guise of soliciting much smaller charitable donations.

In each of the incidents, Boston police say the men pressured their alleged victims into giving money by credit card, either claiming to be collecting donations for a child who had been shot or a recently deceased brother.

According to police reports, one woman told authorities the group surrounded her in the parking lot of a Whole Foods on Harrison Avenue in the South End shortly before 1 p.m.

“The victim stated she was boxed in with nowhere to go, her back against a car and they wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer,” the police report stated.

Scared, the woman a

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