Watertown Woman Warns of Scam While Shopping in Sioux Falls

It's easy to become distracted while shopping. Especially when a random stranger starts pleasantly chatting with you. However, it is probably safer to be an unsocial hermit with your head down while shopping.

According to Dakota News Now, a Watertown, South Dakota woman is warning people to be on the lookout for people trying to scam you and steal your wallet while shopping in stores.

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Marilyn Byer was shopping at TJ Maxx in Sioux Falls on January 16 when a man came up to her to ask about toddler clothing sizes. While engaged with this guy, someone else stole her wallet out of her purse in her shopping cart. It didn't take long before fraudulent charges started happening.

“As I was up a the checkout, my husband called and said that one of our cards got a charge of a thousand dollars, and where is my wallet.” said Byer.

Sioux Falls Police say that calling them and filing a report as soon as possible is key to finding who is responsible for the theft.

There are plenty of ways to keep your purse safe in a store. You can use the child strap or cheap carabiner to secure the purse making it tougher to grab and run. Also, keep it zipped up. Using a purse with a longer strap that can be worn around the shoulders like a sling is also good.

Another option is to not bring a purse at all. Bringing just a small wallet or even just cards and ID is safer than a bag full of personal information. That isn't always practical either, especially with young kids. So some combination of all of these things that suits you best is the way to go.