Thieves appear to be targeting elderly women in recent spate of distraction thefts: Guelph police

Guelph police are warning residents to be aware of distraction thefts that have been happening in the city and appear to be targeting elderly women.

In a news release on Tuesday, police said there have been five thefts recently that have happened in or close to a large grocery store or department store.

“In all incidents, the victims were females who had their purses or wallets stolen,” police said. “Four of the five were in their 70s or 80s.”

The service added that in two cases, purses were removed from shopping carts while the victims had their backs turned.

In another two, the victims were approached after getting into their vehicles and told they had a nail or pin in their tire. After inspecting the tires, the victims got back into their vehicle to find their wallets missing.

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Another woman noticed her wallet missing after she was approached by someone in a parking lot asking for directions, according to police.

“In all cases, the victims’ credit or debit cards were used within minutes of the theft,” police said.

In at least one case, police said it appeared there were five suspects working together, but it is not known if all of the thefts are related.