Calgary police looking for distraction theft scammers

Calgary police are asking for help identifying multiple suspects in recent distraction thefts.

Officers believe the scams are run by a large group of people who usually target elderly folks at places where you can’t tap your card to pay, or at ATMs.

Fraudsters usually hover over the shoulder of their victims and watch as they input their PIN for their credit or debit cards, police say this is also called “shoulder-surfing.” After seeing the PIN, scammers then distract their victims while an accomplice steals their cards, cash, and/or their wallets.

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In January, a woman had her wallet with her debit card in it stolen after shopping at a Walmart in the city’s northwest. She says she only noticed it was gone while heading to her car.

In March, a man had cash and a credit card stolen from his wallet when leaving a Costco in the southeast. Police believe four people worked together to distract him, pickpocket the wallet, steal his belongings, and then put his wallet back in his pocket.

Also in March, at a different Costco location in the northwest, the victim noticed a man and a woman standing very close to her while she showed her receipt to store staff on the way out. She then saw the man and woman leave the Costco before her. Afterwards, she noticed her bank accounts had been compromised and that her wallet was stolen from her purse.

Police add there were six other distraction thefts reported to them in the last month alone.

Anyone with information about these thefts, or the suspects, is asked to call police at 403-266-1234, or report a tip anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.