Warning as woman has cards stolen after ‘distraction theft’ at Dunstable Tesco

A worried Dunstable pensioner is sending out a warning after she was the victim of a distraction theft and lost a “large sum” of money.
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On April 15 between 1.30pm and 2pm, the resident visited Skimpot Road Tesco to do her shopping and paid with a card, before putting her goods and handbag in the boot of her car.

However, whilst back at home, she received a text from her bank informing her that payment of a large sum of money had been declined.

Upon checking her handbag, the woman realised that her purse was gone, and that she had “been targeted”.

Tesco, Skimpot Road. The woman now says she feels vulnerable when going shopping. Credit: Google Maps.Tesco, Skimpot Road. The woman now says she feels vulnerable when going shopping. Credit: Google Maps.
Tesco, Skimpot Road. The woman now says she feels vulnerable when going shopping. Credit: Google Maps.

The resident claimed: “After shopping, I’d opened the driver’s door and sat in the car when someone in the car park called me: ‘scuse me, scuse me’. The man was 6ft tall, white, in his 30s, smartly dressed and with a slight accent - maybe French /Spanish.

“He said that a man had driven off and hit my front bumper. While he was getting me to look at it, someone else must have taken the purse from my boot whilst it wasn’t locked.

“I thought someone had been standing close behind me at the till - they must have got my pin. They then went on a rampage in Dunstable and Hemel Hempstead and spent a large sum of money.

“My bank is investigating and I should get my money back but I want to warn other people; I think they are targeting women of a certain age.

“There’s been similar incidents in that car park and nearby - people pretend they are lost and ask for directions as a distraction.”

A Bedfordshire Police spokesman, said: “We continue to investigate reports of a distraction burglary and are following a number of lines of enquiry, including CCTV.

“Anyone with any information is asked to call police on 101, quoting reference 40/21733/19.”

A Tesco spokesman, said: “We are sorry to hear about this incident and will be assisting police with their enquiries.”