:Alert: A man stole a wallet within Safeway

Just an FYI to our fellow neighbors. My wife's wallet was stolen out of her purse at Safeway today.

She thinks it happened when she turned her back from the cart as it was not there when she went to the counter to checkout but was there upon entry. The wallet (w/ CCs, license and cash) was removed from the purse at some point within Safeway.

She contacted the Sheriff's and so began the next phase.

~20mins - several of the credit cards were used at CVS and Giant - $500 in prepaid credit cards were purchased. When a man hands a credit card with a woman's name on it, you wold think someone would ask to see ID.

CVS stated that they have him on video. The Sheriff's office is going to the other stores to see what video surveillance may be available. I am hoping we get to see the photo, and if we get a copy I will post here as he may be living among us and its obvious he knows what he's doing.

Fortunately my wife had a photo copy of all of her credit cards and has cancelled everything. Everyone has been very helpful and we are thankful, things could have been worse.

 

This has become a very common practice. The thieves seem to be working their way around the various grocery stores. It started at the Giants in Ashburn Farm and Ashburn Village.
The thieves usually run up the credit cards within minutes of stealing them.
Be vigilant!!

 

In addition to what Mr. Linux suggested, you can now get your picture on most of your credit and debit cards. I know that if you have any BofA cards, you can go to the Blands branch and they will take your picture there, within a few days your new card is delivered.

Most retailers don't really look at the names on cards, or notice signatures, but the picture does catch their eye. It's not fool proof, but it is an added layer of security.

 

I highly recommend NOT signing your name to the credit/debit card and instead write in bold black "Check ID." All the grocery stores around here and most retail stores have asked me for my ID when I use my cards. The only exception was the day I had no cash and went to McDonalds. The cashier didn't ask and when I said, how do you know I'm not using a stolen debit card unless you verify my identity, the cashier said "it's okay, the card went through!" Thanks.

 

My mother’s purse was stolen from her shopping cart at Wegmans about a month ago. In her case she turned her head to order something from counter and when she turned back it was gone. A Good Samaritan found her wallet and keys in an area off Ox road and tracked her down to return. In her case fortunately it does not seem that any of the cards were used before she was able to cancel them.

Definitely recommend to people to keep hold of their purse while in the store or only take into the store items absolutely needed. When I go shopping I slip my wallet into front pants pocket and typically don't take a purse in. Also I put on the back of all my credit cards 'see drivers license' and that seems to work pretty well. Although recently I was at CVS and the cashier looked at the back of the credit card and asked me if I really wanted them to look at my drivers license!

 

All these are great suggestions. However I think the best thing is not to keep your purse in the shopping cart and then turn your back on it. It may be very convenient to keep your purse there, but when you take your eyes off of it, there you go.

If you have to keep your purse in the cart, put it in the main compartment of the cart near the rear (under the child seat). Since you wont need it until you check out, you can pile some stuff on top of it. It will make it much harder for someone to grab your wallet.

Sorry this happened. People suck.

 

Agreed. I have seen this happen many times at a grocery store I worked at when I was in high school. To this day I frequently notice women in grocery stores leaving their purse unattended in the shopping cart.

Grocery stores usually do NOT have good security camera coverage throughout the store, so don't assume that if someone grabs your wallet they will be on camera. Grocery stores will typically only put cameras at high-value areas, such as the medicines aisle and checkouts.

 

Don't most stores have swipe a pad? The cashier never even touches any of my cards.

 

Hey, thanks for the info! I will definitely be more careful. And I've gotten lax about the credit card copying - that's a good project for this holiday weekend thanks.

 

Help your neighbors stay aware. If you see anyone leaving their purse in the cart, gently inform them of the recent thefts. This type of theft has been around for decades and it is easy to put one's guard down when preoccupied. Sadly, the elderly are targeted the most.

 

Another note the sheriff's office just put out is to remind women NOT to keep their purses open and pushed behind them. Some of the wallets that have been stolen have been while the women were in procession of their purse (ie not left in the cart) but the purse was out of sight behind them. Please remember to keep all processions fully closed and in front of you. This is your best protection from this kind of crime.

Staci

 

Thanks for the heads up - I'm guilty of this and often think I live in a safe area where nothing like this happens.....

 

Why do women do this?!?! I don't take my purse off my shoulder at the market, ever! By leaving in the cart, you may as well put a big flashing sign over it that says "take it, I don't want it"!!

My other pet peeve is when women leave their purses out on their desks in their cubicles. You may have a secured entrance into the building, but there can always be random people walking around. Maintenance people, cleaning people, clients, visitors of other people in the office...

Just needed to rant.

 

That kind of theft is probably an inside job by an employee. We had an employee stealing other employees lunches. This went on for over a year until the person was caught on camera!

So who pays the price for credit card fraud?

When credit card fraud occurs, how the transaction was made determines who pays for it. If it happened face-to-face with the cardholder signing in
the presence of the merchant, the credit card company is generally liable. But if it's a card-not-present transaction, such as on the Internet, over the phone, or via mail, the merchant is liable even though the credit card companies accepted the charges and gave approval codes.
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS67124+19-May-2008+MW20080519

But the National Retail Federation (NRF), the nation's biggest retail association, says its members are increasingly complaining that issuing banks are shifting the expense of fraudulent face-to-face transactions to retailers. One reason: complaints that the buyer's signature didn't match the one on the card. These "charge-backs" drive up retailers' costs, which are ultimately passed along to the consumer, says Mallory Duncan, the NRF's general counsel.

Gartner's Litan says talks with large retailers indicate that charge-backs on face-to-face transactions have risen to 50% of such transactions. On top of that, she adds, retailers must pay fees of $25 to $35 for each charge-back. "The issuing banks want to beef up their bottom lines," Litan says. Either way, it's the consumer who's likely to pay in the end.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jun2005/tc20050621_3238_tc024.htm

Credit card fraud has decreased while identity theft is on the rise.

What I don't understand is why people walk around carrying multiple credit cards.

 

A bunch of months ago we had a "guest" at our house (we host social meetings at our house). We found one of the guys was rifling woman's purses and stealing credit cards.

He was eventually caught and convicted, but what concerned us was the total lack of caring by the Credit Card Companies. They had no intention of investigating or prosecuting this jerk. We did some sniffing.

The Credit Card companies don't care because they don't lose any money. The loss is charged back to the store's merchant account. The Merchant does not really care as they chalk it up to business losses and raise their prices.

The individual whose card was stolen may not care of all the charges were taken off their account.....but we DID care. We cared a lot

I feel that this is why credit card fraud is so prevalent. If we did not actively push for prosecuting this jerk, nothing would have been done. Not only is it becoming easier to fraudulently use a credit card, the various companies are not willing to expend the time/money investigating it.

A credit card company is not going to invest $5,000.00 investigating a $500.00 loss. Not when they can just charge back to the merchant account.

Unless the person who had their credit card stolen pushes for action, nothing will happen. So I hope that who ever had their credit card stolen, that they push for prosecution. Don't wait for the various companies to take action. Take action yourself! Stores only keep those video records for a short time (a month if you are lucky). Contact the police so they can request the tape to be saved.

Good luck with it and I hope this jerk gets convicted.

 

I never take my eyes off of my purse while shopping, but just in case I keep it zipped and then I take the child safety belt and loop it through the straps of the bag. Some one would have to take extra time to unbuckle the belt before taking it. Not foolproof, but an added precaution!

 

As far as not signing the back of the credit cards goes, the USPS will not take a credit card unless it has been signed on the back. Even if you show them an ID they will not accept it. This happened to me (because I don't sign the backs of my cards) when I presented a debit/credit Mastercard. It's linked to the same account (so it's not a credit card, but can be used as one). The woman wouldn't accept it unless I signed it there in front of her and I refused. She said I needed to provide another form of payment in which case I presented her the same card and said to run it as debit. She took that instead. ???????

 

I no longer carry a purse, and havent for about 15 years. I cant tell you how much easier life is without it. I have a zip up wallet that I use, and if it doesnt fit in there, or in my pockets, I dont carry it.