Police issue purse theft alert at grocery stores

Brick police are urging women to guard their purses and/or wallets and never leave them unattended while shopping at local grocery stores. The police department is issuing this warning due to an increase in thefts of purses and wallets at grocery stores.

This crime is popular among identity thieves who target credit cards, personal checks and identification as well as cash. The thieves attempt to make purchases with the stolen credit cards and checks before a victim has a chance to notify financial institutions or law enforcement.

In the recent cases, most victims were females over 60 years of age. The purses or wallets were all taken from the victims' carts. The thieves target their victims inside the stores while shopping or in parking lots near the victims' cars when placing groceries in their vehicles since these are areas where people tend to be most distracted and pay less attention to their carts and purses.

The police department recommends that shoppers protect themselves by taking the following precautions:

Do not carry unnecessary identification, credit cards or Social Security cards with you. Keep these at home in a safe place.

For cards that youmust carry with you, record information such as financial institution name and contact information, card number, etc., and keep it at home in a safe place.

While shopping, do not place your purse in your cart. Carry it where you have constant control of it or carry just a wallet on your person and leave your purse at home or in your vehicle out view from others.

When you are in the parking lot, do not place your purse in the trunk of your car as thieves sometimes monitor parking lots for this type of activity.

Stay alert to any suspicious people you see in target areas. Many victims report that they saw the suspects lurking around them before their purse was stolen. Sometimes thieveswork in pairs and one will distract the victimby engaging in conversation with them while the other steals the wallet or purse.

Report any suspicious individuals to employees or to the police department.

If your purse is stolen, notify the police immediately; do not wait until you get home. Try to obtain a description of the suspect or suspect vehicle.

Never confront or pursue a suspect, as this could be dangerous.

As soon as possible after a theft, notify any applicable credit card companies, banks, etc.

If anyone has any questions or need more information, contact the police department at (732) 262-1150.