This is indeed the most wonderful time of the year. For crooks.
Police say every time you go shopping right now, you should assume there’s a thief intent on separating you from your purchases or from your money.
“Just like how you’re going shopping or you go to work, these thieves are also going to work so they’re watching you drop things off in your vehicle and go to the next store,” said Detective Tiffany Roy of the Miramar Police Department.
It sounds creepy, but thieves might be watching you and waiting for the moment when you’re most vulnerable and distracted, which is often when you’re arriving at your car with bags.
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“Put everything on one arm, that way you have your keys at hand, you can walk to your car, you’re not fumbling for things and you can immediately open up your car door,” Roy said. “When you’re leaving that parking lot, make sure there are no vehicles following you because what they like to do is follow you from one place to the next, whether you’re going from store to store, or leaving from the bank, they’re waiting to break into your car at the next location.”
Gift cards are extremely popular, but criminals love them, too.
They steal them by the bunch, clone them, put them back on the shelf, and then when someone buys the cards, the crooks get the money. Detective Roy says inspect any gift cards carefully before you buy them, looking for any signs of tampering.
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This is also the season when porch pirates are sailing the seas of your neighborhood. Don’t let them scuttle your holidays.
“So try and schedule your deliveries around someone being home so that you’re kind of protecting your items and making sure no one is gonna steal them, “ Roy said.
The object is to make yourself less of a target, by using common-sense solutions.
Roy advises wearing a cross-body purse or bag while shopping to thwart purse snatchers. She says don’t leave purchases visible in your car.
And remember, if you leave a giant box outside for recycling pickup, any thief driving by will know someone just got a new 80-inch television screen. That makes your house a target.
