Thieves Work Together To Steal Woman's Wallet

Thieves working as a tag team, make life miserable for a 89-year-old woman. Here's how it works; one person asks you a seemingly innocent question while you're shopping. When you answer, the other

Friday, June 8th 2007, 10:06 am

By: News On 6

Thieves working as a tag team, make life miserable for a 89-year-old woman. Here's how it works; one person asks you a seemingly innocent question while you're shopping. When you answer, the other person slips your wallet out of your purse and you don't even know it's happened until you checkout. News On 6 crime reporter Lori Fullbright reports it happened to a Tulsa woman this week and she wants to alert others

Gladys and her sister were shopping Tuesday at 11 a.m. at Wal-Mart. Gladys was standing right next to her purse, which was strapped into the shopping cart. A man asked her a question about Capri pants and she answered. She never saw the second man slip her wallet out of her purse. It wasn't until she left the store, that she realized what happened.

"They found my wallet within two hours, thrown up on the shelves,â€ Gladys said. â€œThey'd taken everything out of it."

The men figured out Gladys' pin number was the last four digits of her social security number, then the shopping began, gas, groceries and more.

"They also went to ONG and paid a $276 bill, $352 bill at Sprint, went to Cox Communications and paid a $400 bill and a $570 dollar bill with this debit card," said Gladysâ€™ son-in-law Lloyd.

Bank of Oklahoma assured Gladys she won't be out most of the $5,000, but she is out a lot of time and trouble.

"We had to go back and get a new drivers license, new social security card, new Medicare card, new TRICARE card, cancel activity on Discover, on Sears, Dillardâ€™s and the JC Penney's card," Lloyd said.

Don't put your purse in the shopping cart, even if you strap it in, because your wallet is still vulnerable. You're better off putting the money you need in your pocket and never use any part of your social security number as the pin number for your debit card.

Gladys hopes others learn from her story, in the meantime, she pretty unhappy with the thieves.

"Oh, furious, I said, if I ever see them again, I'll walk up and knock the heck out of them,â€ she said.

Wal-Mart security told Gladys the men were caught on surveillance tape talking to her and swiping her billfold. If they release it, we'll air it.

Gladys can't understand how two young black men were allowed to use an older, white woman's card, without raising any red flags.

Be leery of anyone trying to distract you with a seemingly innocent question when you shop.

Watch the video: Woman's Wallet Is Stolen By A Tag Team Of Thieves

For more on Lori Fullbright's safety tips, click here.