POLICE yesterday warned holiday shoppers to be on full alert for pickpockets who come out of the woodwork during the year’s busiest commercial season.
“With so many people out and about doing their Christmas shopping the streets are packed and so it’s easier for people to try and steal someone’s wallet while they’re not looking,” police spokeswoman Chrystalla Demetriou told the Cyprus Mail.
She said that like last year, this holiday season had seen an increase in wallet and handbag thefts.
“We don’t have statistics for this year yet, but last year there was one day 17 women’s bags were snatched,” she said.
The policewoman advised that people kept an eye on their bags and wallets at all time.
“Ladies should keep their handbags zipped closed with their wallets safely inside.
Very often they keep them open with their wallet in plain view, making it easy for someone to take,” she said.
Demetriou said women wearing shoulder bags should keep them in front of them, rather than leave them swinging at their side, and men with wallets should place them in their front trouser pocket, rather than the back pocket.
“Also, the minute someone witnesses or is the victim of such a crime they should alert police immediately on the police helpline 1460 or contact at the nearest police station,” she said.
The spokeswoman said that by keeping a close eye on their personal belongings, people would ward off would-be thieves.
“Normally, this sort of petty theft is not that common, but during this time of the year, when the streets are so crowded, we always note an outbreak,” she said.
One woman told the Cyprus Mail that she had almost been a victim of such a crime.
“I was walking down Makarios Avenue in Nicosia on Christmas Eve when I felt someone rush past me and tug at my bag. Thankfully it was kind of tucked under my arm so he couldn’t take it off me. I was so shocked because that’s never happened to me here before. I didn’t have time to see who it was or anything. One minute he was there and the next he was gone, hidden among the crowd,” said the 37-year-old, who wished to have her name withheld.
A second man said his wife had not been so lucky.
“She was having lunch with friends and her bag was at her feet. When she went to pay she couldn’t find her wallet. She thinks it may have happened there because she doesn’t remember having her bag unattended at any other time, but the truth is she doesn’t know.”
He added: “It’s terrible how things have changed. I remember a time when you could leave your wallet on the table, get up and go to the toilet and you’d come back and it would still be there. Nowadays there’s no chance of that happening. It would be taken by the time you’ve turned your head.”
