Topic: Purse stolen

[Emagggie]

Just a word regarding keeping your purse/wallet in a shopping bag or rucksack(no matter how deep), a friend paid for goods in a shop, then pushed her purse down to the bottom of her bag, obviously being watched, as when she went to get it next it was gone and there was a large slash exactly where her purse was put.

[tonybloke]

I tied one of these for the O.H. to cover her shopping basket. [attachment=1] ;)

[ACE]

If I need more cash, I get free cashback at the supermarket.

Which supermarket is that, we all want to know. Cause they are keeping it a big secret around our way. Perhaps thats why the banks went bust ;D

[caroline7758]

Just shows how ofetn it happens if so many of us have suffered. When I was teaching I had my purse taken from my bag in the office. Got the purse back several months later, found out in the grounds. I still have my Boots card which was in it- it's really yellow and staff always comment on it, but I've never been offered a new one, and it must be nearly 20 years ago now!
My daughters are more careful than me, use a small purse and usually keep it in their front jeans pocket, but the older one had hers stolen in a bar in the summer when she had it in her bag for once.

[hellohelenhere]

Yes, it's great, ACE! You go shopping, and they give you your shopping plus FREE MONEY!! Aren't they nice?!

Emagggie - thanks for the tip, yikes! I must start keeping my purse in the internal section of the rucksack, not the outermost section - it has occurred to me that it's not all that safe, especially as it's behind me where I can't see what's going on.
In particularly risky situations (crowded shopping areas, or notorious thieving spots, anywhere) I carry my rucksack on my front. Though, I'm not *entirely* sure which is safest. I can see it, but it's probably much easier to yank it off. So, safer as regards pickpockets, less safe as regards muggers. Hmm.

The principle misery when I had my bag stolen was the tedium of replacing everything, and dealing with the police, who had the bag handed in - with most stuff still in it, bar the mobile phone and the cash - including a kilo of spicy pakoras! - and then kept it 'as evidence' for 3 months, during which I wasn't allowed to access it, so had to replace things like my travel pass even though the police had them. I did mention that they might want to remove the pakoras, but no - when I got the bag back, it smelled unbelievable and went straight in the bin outside the police station! (The pakoras did go on my detailed insurance claim though, haha!)
I had to deal with about 4 different police stations and about 10 different contacts, it was a shambles. And when they finally 'released' my bag/purse etc, they said it could never have been used as evidence anyway as it had spent a night lying on the ground in the open.

When I first reported the theft, the policewoman at the counter rang my mobile and the thief answered.
Policewoman: 'Hello, is Paul there? Oh - who am I speaking to, please?'
Thief: 'It's Darren'.

::)

T-Mobile also provided a number which the thief called within minutes of stealing my bag. Did they ever follow this up? No. But they were happy to keep my bag for 3 months, just to make life that little bit harder... ARGH!  The saving grace was that I didn't have my house keys in my bag - we would have had to change the locks, at great expense.  

[grawrc]

I had both my purse and my mobile taken from my rucksack (inside zipped pocket) on the metro in Paris about 5 years ago. The police just shook their heads and said "That's the metro for you". I had no cash and stopped my cards within 2 hours by phone. No attempt was made to use them. Orange locked my mobile as soon as I contacted them so the phone wouldn't work even with a different sim. So a bit of a wasted effort for the pickpockets but a royal pain in the butt for me! I only ever take a couple of cards when I go on holiday: one to use and one kept elsewhere just in case!!

[Paulines7]

.... Yesterday saw a lady in tears in the toilet near Waitrose as she had just bought clothes from Principles and left the bag in the toilet, of course when she came back it had gone. 

I hope she contacted the police station to see if it had been handed in or even returned to Principles in case it was taken back there.

My son and I have both found watches and each time have handed them in to the Police.  On both occasions they were not claimed so we were able to collect them after a few months.  One was a ladies Rotary and it had a very small black leather strap on it.  I often wondered if it was someones 18th birthday gift.  Not everyone in this world is dishonest so if anything is lost it is well worth seeing if it has been handed in.

In the 1960's my father lost over £100 from his wallet whilst on holiday in Wales.  As an Insurance Agent, it was money he had collected prior to his holiday and hadn't had time to pay in.  He lost it somewhere in the Abergwesyn Pass but fortunately he had some cheques with the money and the Police were able to trace the owner.  It had been found by a shepherd who duly received a reward from my father.

[betula]

Years ago,we were walking through Pickering,I think,small garden area with benches,we spotted an expensive camera on one benchNikon?I think.We waited a while ,no one come back.Found the local police station,funny little place,like a small house.

Few weeks later we had a letter with a cheque as a reward.He said he was so happy to have it back as it was a 21st birthday present.That made my day.

Another time I went into a newsagent by where I worked,they had a low shelf with all the newspapers stored on it.All along the top of the papers was loads of cash,notes,must have been hundreds of pounds.Could not believe my eyes.Handed it in to the shopkeeper,I knew her pretty well,Later a guy come into where I worked with a plant and chocs to thank me.How the heck he dropped it in such a way is beyond me.

I lost some money at a car boot once,I had it in a small plastic bag that I kept in my hand,know I must have left it on one of the tables,backtracked but no one had seen it,someone had swiped it. :(

Went shopping yesterday in solihull,Took extra care of my purse as this thread had served as a reminder that you have to stay on the ball.

[SamLouise]

Reminds me of when we pulled into a petrol station once and nearly run over someone's mobile phone which they'd obviously dropped getting in or out of their car.  I jumped out and grabbed it before anybody else saw it and then I went through the numbers on it, found the one named 'home', phoned it and said, "I'm ringing from your mobile phone which I've just found at the BP petrol station on ....... and I'm going to hand it in to the cashier inside"  I thought at least this way they would know where it was, lol. 

[littlebabybird]

another one to let you know not everyone is bad
i dropped my purse in the tesco car park in ryde in the summer with just over £400 in it, along with cards
and stuff.
went to pay and couldnt
went to customer services to put it asside while i got my purse, cursing how stupid i was, gave them my name, the asked if i had any I.D. on me, i was getting so fed up i just wanted them to look after my shopping while i went and got my purse.
i showed her my passport and she gave me my purse.
the lad who handed it in hadn't even left his name

lbb

[betula]

Just remembered an incident that happened in 97.

We went on a cruise round the med.

Decided to go on a day trip to Barcelona.While we were on the coach the staff warned up that there was a big problem with Pickpockets.They warned us to be especially careful around people who were selling paper flowers or people holding clipboards.

We later discovered that two couples had lost their purses and wallets.
They suddenly found they were covered in a bird muck like stuff and when they were trying to clean it off a couple came along with bottled water and tissues,saying the same had happened to them.They helped to wipe their clothes and in the process stole their belongings.

We always use bum bags on holiday,we don't bother with purses or wallets.