PICKING POCKETS- Something We Don’t Think About

Pickpocketing in the Puget Sound region does not receive a lot of attention. We often hear talk about car prowls, burglaries, and scams. However, according to the NBC affiliate, KGW, in Portland, OR, there are theft rings, largely based out of Chile, that have been targeting Panera restaurants since at least 2012. Often working in two’s and threes, the thieves will reach into purses, pull out the wallets in them, then take out the bank cards, and leave the restaurants. The thieves go to a nearby big box store, Walmart, Best Buy, Target, etc., to take out thousands of dollars’ worth of gift cards or merchandise.

Why Panera seems a mystery. After all this crime could occur at many fast food restaurants such as Chipotle, MOD Pizza, Starbucks, etc. Police theorize that three elements may make Panera attractive:

Location- Aaron Snell of the Everett Police Department points out that Panera restaurants are often located in shopping areas where a pickpocket can make a quick purchase.

Layout- Panera restaurants have an open seating layout allowing customers to move freely and choose where to sit. The thieves can easily and quickly survey the room then sit at a table directly behind their target. At lunch Panera’s tend to be crowded making it easier to blend into the crowd. Check out the videos at the link below to see some of these pickpockets in action.

Customers- Panera customers tend to be more affluent making them attractive targets.

Catching the pickpockets is difficult for police. The teams of thieves will work an area for a short time, then move on. That includes starting out at one end of the U.S. then migrating to other parts of the country. And if they are from out of country, local police will not have them in a database to identify who they are when they look at security video.

Restaurants are not the only locations for pickpockets. Grocery stores are fertile fields with purses left unattended in grocery carts.

What to do? Before you vow not to go into a Panera again, there are things police say that you can do to protect your wallet and your credit cards:

·         Keep your purse visible, such as around the center of the table.

·         Close your purse or wallet. If they have zippers, close them.

·         Do not hang your purse over a chair.

·         Setup fraud alerts and notifications on your credit cards.

KGW TV:

https://www.kgw.com/article/news/investigations/international-multi-state-theft-rings-target-lunch-crowd-at-panera-bread-restaurants-pickpocket-purses-steal-credit-cards-and-buy-gift-cards/283-55dfeecd-6a7d-4e57-a54f-2b2e6a8c54d0