Ladies, be careful with your purses and wallets. Learn from my mistake! I had my wallet stolen right out of my purse while dining at the Rain Forest Cafe on Wed night. This restaurant is inside the Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, IL.
The thief immediately went using my Visa card inside the mall and then tried to get gas and charge another big amount at Best Buy before Chase denied the card.
We are not responsible for the $2,000 + that was put on my card (thankfully). I filed a police report and have done other things in hopes of helping law enforcement to catch the thief. The officer said they've had many reports of this very thing happening at that particular restaurant.
My advice, ladies, is don't do what I did and that is to hang your purse from your chair. I didn't want to place on the dirty floor but wish I had. Would have saved me much aggravation!
This restaurant is just the kind of place where this kind of crime could easily happen. It is kind of dark, very busy, lots of people milling around and you are easily distracted, especially if you're a Mom of young kids like me!
Better yet, leave your purse at home and let hubby carry your ID. Perhaps just bring a little purse with only the bare essentials.
I knew exactly what was in my wallet and it wasn't a lot: not much cash, a Visa card, ATM card, Sam's Club card and driver's license. Within 1/2 hour or so of returning home, I had the cards all canceled. We had a message from Chase about our Visa on our answering machine asking us to call immediately regarding the large charges. I was able to get a new driver's license the next morning.
Carry only what you really need and nothing you'd be sad/upset if you had stolen. No one needs tons of credit cards. Do not carry your Social Security card!
Someone very carefully and sneakily unzipped my purse and lifted my wallet without any of us being the wiser.
This restaurant really should let the patrons know or try to have security in place. I doubt though they want to advertise that customers are being robbed there, not too good for business.
Sorry this is so long but wanted to get the message out to be very careful with where you put your valuables when you are out in public. Take care with your wallets, purses and packages.
I will not be returning to the Rain Forest Cafe any time soon. It gives me a real bad feeling even when I think about it. Their prices are very high for what you get anyway. You're paying for the atmosphere which our children really enjoy but I definitely could live without after this incidence!
By Debbie52 from IL
This page contains the following solutions.
To guard against purse snatching, when I buckle my seat belt I also buckle at least one handle of my purse into it. This also comes in handy when I need something out of my purse while I'm driving.
Whenever I'm shopping, and shopping carts are available, I "strap" my purse into the child seat. Doing this allows me to shop and not have to worry about my purse being stolen.
When you are grocery shopping, turning your back can result in a quick grab of your purse if left unattended in the grocery cart. An easy way to greatly hinder, or even eliminate, this is to use a camping clip (carabiner) to snap your purse handles onto the cart.
With all the purses snatched each year from grocery carts, here is a hint. You know the straps used to hold in children, use them to hold your purse in, so they have to take the buggy too instead of just your purse.
If you must take your purse in the store with you, pick a cart that has a safety belt for a child and hook it through your shoulder strap so that no one can snatch it. By all means, if you have a sweater or jacket, put it over your purse to hide it and keep it zipped shut.
Since I previously lost my billfold and all of my i.d. at one time, I now always keep an extra credit card and my driver's license in a side, zip pocket of my purse.
I've heard news announcers tell us to use the seat belt in a shopping cart to keep our purses safe by putting it through the handle of the purse and snapping it closed. Sometimes the seat belt is broken or missing, so it isn't always possible.
I like to use purses with an across the body strap while shopping, but sometimes it isn't convenient or I need to use a different purse. Then I just put my purse in the basket part of the cart and loop the child seatbelt through my purse's handle twice.
My purse always seems very heavy so I like to set it in the child seat of my shopping cart. I try to never take my hand off it.
Be safe, don't carry a purse, use your pockets! Organize your multi-pocket jeans, and slacks.
Don't carry a purse when you shop, wear jeans or pants with deep pockets and only carry your wallet and keys in your pockets. You will find that you really don't need all that excess stuff you collect in your purse. By Syd
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
Where can I find purse safety straps?
By Jim from Indio, CA
I am not so sure if you can purchase just the straps but here's some online info about safety purses: www.corporatetravelsafety.com/
You could always call a few shoe repairs places (they also repair purses) and see what they have to say. Hope this helps.
A belt would work fine,especially a short or childs belt
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Lock in your purse while shopping. Take the safety seat belt on the shopping cart and run it through the straps on your purse and hook it.
