How it works:
- Offender 1 approaches and distracts
- Offender 2 steals the wallet
- Offender 3 distracts other customers.
Elderly people in particular are robbed. The scam is usually the same. The senior citizens are distracted in the supermarket aisle, for example by asking about a product or a product price. An accomplice uses this to steal the purse from the shopping cart or handbag.
Many victims only notice the loss at the checkout and then believe they have lost the wallet somewhere. They start searching and only call the police long after the theft to report the case. This gives the perpetrators time to commit further crimes in other supermarkets and to flee undetected. The Paderborn police therefore advise affected persons to inform the police immediately after noticing the loss by calling 110. True to the motto, better one too many than too few.
The officers can then react based on the descriptions and search for possible gangs of thieves in the surrounding supermarkets. At the same time, the police advise people not to keep their wallets and important documents open in their shopping cart or handbag, but to keep them close to their body. You should also be suspicious if questioners approach you too closely in the supermarket. In addition, older relatives in particular should be warned about the theft scam.