Shoppers Beware!

I am writing this post very late on Friday night as a reminder and a warning!

Tonight me and my family went to the Santa Anita Mall to take advantage of some good sales for pre-back-to-school shopping. We took a pretzel break, just outside of Nordstrom. We went back into Nordstrom and my husband and I divided and conquered departments -- each with 1 or 2 kids to make things go faster.

As I was ready to pay for a purchase, I realized I did not have my purse. Now, my purse is the keeper of all things, not the least of which a diaper and wipes, social security cards, my credit cards and my husbands, 2 ATM account cards and 2 check books. Let's see, I also had my Suprakey (a lock box device which allows me to access all homes with a lock-box). I recalled that since I had paid cash for the pretzels, I had my purse and my husband saved our little table. As I went back to my family, I hung my purse over the chair (I usually put it in the stroller basket). This time, I was distracted by one child needing one thing and a toddler needing something else. So, on the back of the chair it hung. I recall getting out of the chair to leave and eyeing my purse as I buckled my daughter into the stroller. Before I knew it, my husband and I decided to strategize our last hurrah into Nordstrom and as I began to take command of the journey and part ways with my husband and one child, I left my purse behind.

Fast forward to me arriving back at the table and realizing my purse was gone! After doing the necessary report at the information kiosk and visit every retail store in the vicinity - to no avail, I met up with my husband and reported my mistake.

As we talked through the possibilities, my credit cards were the least of my worries; I realized my kids social security cards, pictures, and lock box key were all at the disposal of someone out there. I tried not to panic. My oldest son prayed.

Fast forward to an hour later and my bank ATM cards cancelled and a very nice Arcadia Police crew taking me to Nordstrom, where my purse was returned. The thieves had rummaged through it all, taken my $40 in cash, 2 ATM cards and an American Express card and called it a day. My purse was found in the parking lot outside of Nordstrom with everything laying around it. A couple of shoppers were nice enough to bring it inside and return it to the Customer Service Dept. As the officer said, "Well, $40 and you get your purse back". Not bad at all, I say.

One thing I have to say, though, is he mentioned that my credit cards were in my purse, but they now had my name, address and phone # and all these thieves needed were my credit card numbers and they could have a go at all that was in my name. VERY SCARY. This incident is the first to happen to me -- but as the police said, Identity Theft is the biggest crime right now. So, I have a couple of logical tips for all those women (and men) who keep their identities and lives in their pocketbooks:

1. Take only what you need.
2. Downsize to a very small bag and do not carry checks, extra cards or social security information.
3. Use cash -- Debit card fraud is on the rise -- big time! The thieves immediately took my card to a gas station across from the mall. The officer said the first thing they would do was get gas! And they did!!!!!!!
4. A personal one -- do not carry pictures of loved ones. We do not want people that steal our purse to have our address and pictures of our kids.
5. If you work in the Real Estate industry do not carry a lock box key with you unless you are on duty. This is a valuable and priceless tool. If this was in the wrong hands, it could be bad. Of course, Supra can cancel the key ASAP, but it is not worth the risk.
6. Never hang your purse over a chair. It is liable to get stolen or forgotten and then stolen.
7. In short, don't do what I did!

All that said, get yourselves a small purse and play it safe!
Stacy