Sidcup High Street has had a recent increase in pickpocket offences reported.
Sidcup High Street has had a recent increase in pickpocket offences reported. Two suspects identified for one offence are two Eastern European females aged 18-30 years. One female was wearing a headscarf and blue coat with fur lined hood. The other female was wearing a light coloured hat and dark coat. Please could staff look out for elderly customers who have handbags left open or on top of shopping trolleys and remind them to keep purses out of sight and bags close to them at all times. Shops particularly vulnerable are charity shops, Poundland, Card Factory, Waitrose and Morrisons.
Also, we’ve been asked to forward information from our Business Crime Hub regarding merchant till receipts being stolen to commit fraud:
We have noticed a recent fraud trend where suspects are reaching over the counter and stealing the merchant till receipts. The receipts contain the full card details of customers. Suspects have then gone on to use the card details to make fraudulent transactions.
The following crime prevention advice will assist both the businesses and their customers.
Change the setting on the PDQ (chip and pin machines) so the merchant copy only prints the last 4 digits of the customers card.
Change the 4 digit refund code. (All PDQ machines come with the same 4 digit refund code, suspects can make refunds to themselves if the original factory settings aren’t changed)
Make sure the merchant till receipts are safe and out of reach of the counter.
