Woman's purse Stolen From Hannafords In Essex

[Henry]

A woman had her purse stolen in the parking lot of Hannaford's supermarket in Essex, Vt. on Thursday.

Police say the 62-year-old woman, with a serious medical condition, was loading groceries into her vehicle when two white males approached her in a large dark colored SUV (suburban or Tahoe). One of the males got out of the vehicle and took her purse from the shopping cart.

He then got back into the vehicle and left with the driver.

Police say the two men then went to various stores in Essex, South Burlington, and Georgia, Vt. and used the woman's credit cards to purchase cigarettes, jewelry, lottery tickets, and shoes. The men also went to a restaurant in South Burlington and had dinner using the woman's credit card.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Essex Police at (802)-878-8331.

[sdogallen]

I find it odd that none of these businesses would question 2 men using a card with a womans name on it.

[al brodeur]

this is one reason charge cards should have your recent photo on them. yes it would be an inconvience but it would help prevent card theft thus saving you money in the long run. I know it would not help with internet or phone orders but they leave a paper trail as to where the package is shipped.
the photo's would be updated when the card is renewed. and yes there are problems with out of state banks that have issued you a card but they should be required to partner up with local banks for photo's.

[rod anode]

then the next step after they figure a way to get past the photo is a micro chip in your arm

[GreytJB]

Rod's not far from the truth.  I've heard the next thing the banks are going to be trying here are what's known as "Chip and PIN", where there's a little metal chip on the credit card, and you have to enter in a secret code just like with debit cards.  I think it's required for credit cards in Canada nowadays.

[lena6]

Be very careful using credit cards through amazon or any other place .  I have had 2 cards I have had 2 cards comprised, 1 for over 800. Dollars and 1 for over 700 dollars.  Cabela's was right on top of the one yesterday.  Within 4 minutes of the purchase they called me.  The other never did call me and it was all spent on iTunes the day after Xmas.

[janet]

Just read about a good way to prevent your purse from being stolen out of a shopping cart.  HOOK IT TO THE CART WITH THE CHILD SEAT BELT  IN THE CART! HOOK IT THROUGH YOUR PURSE STRAP!
    Sounds like a smart thing to do....I will try it myself.  I usually don't put my purse in the cart but sometimes you do for just a minute and look what can happen!

[Henry]

Received the following note from Steve Ratte regarding this:

Hi Henry . . .
On the topic of "A Woman's purse stolen...
 
Response to Al Brodeur:  Shell  used to issue cards with your picture & signature.  It was voluntary.  Just had to send them your picture with your signature.  It worked well, but only lasted about 5 or 6 yrs. as I recall.
I never signed the back of the card.  Whenever a clerk would ask me to sign it, I just referred to the front of the card.  No idea why it was stopped? It was a great idea.
Steve

[Razzle Dazzle]

I'm not so sure a picture on the front of the card would do any good unless the clerk looks at it.  Are they going to look at it if they aren't already looking at back and comparing signatures?
Maybe retailers not properly processing cards should be held liable, or at least partially?

I like this idea:

Rod's not far from the truth.  I've heard the next thing the banks are going to be trying here are what's known as "Chip and PIN", where there's a little metal chip on the credit card, and you have to enter in a secret code just like with debit cards.  I think it's required for credit cards in Canada nowadays.

[Razzle Dazzle]

By the way...my wife Cathy never signs her signature on the back of her cards. Instead, she writes "see identification card".  Then the retailer has to (is supposed to) look at her identification card.

While writing this we just had a quick discussion.  She's going to change the "see identification card" to "see photo id".

[Corm]

Similar to what Raz said, I always sign the back of my cards with "Ask for photo ID".

Corm

[ohhman]

I can say MANY places do not even ask to see the credit card & if they do, they don't look at it well enough to say so.  I also put SEE ID on the back of my credit card & occasionally a clerk may ask to see ID but not often.  When they do, I make sure to thank them; if they don't I usually make mention of it!  Also, anyone can use your card on the internet! Between the breakins & this sort of crazy stuff, someday, someone is going to be very sorry they messed with the wrong person!

[mirjo]

Most retail outlets don't physically handle cards any longer--transactions are done on the card reader on the counter by the customer. With the exception of restaurants, no one is actually looking at credit cards anymore, making photos & signatures pointless. And easy for other people to use. If you're signing an electronic signing pad, it's so hard to read anyway, it doesn't matter what you actually sign. I would say it's pretty easy for anyone to get away with using someone else's credit or debit card--though the debit card would perhaps shut down  faster and not allow charges over what's in the account.