HENRICO COUNTY, Va. -- An 83-year-old Henrico woman said a couple she befriended at HomeGoods in Short Pump stole her wallet. Once in possession of her credit cards, the couple went on a spending spree -- racking up $13,000 in charges at the Apple Store, Walmart, Target, and Ulta.
The victim, who asked for her identity be protected, said the couple approached her while she was browsing in HomeGoods on Thursday afternoon.
“I was just going around like women do looking at everything, and I stopped and this young lady walked up to me and started chatting with me about an item in front of us," the victim said. "Her husband was with her."
The victim said she spoke with the woman for no more than a minute. But in that short amount of time, she believes the man swiped her wallet.
A theft she did not even realize had happened until she finished shopping and went to pay for her items.
At first she thought she lost her cards while shopping, but after re-tracing her steps, she realized something very bad happened inside the store.
While she called police, her daughter started checking bank statements.
Over a span of just three hours, the crooks had done irreparable damage to the her bank accounts.
"From 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., they attempted $17,000 worth of charges," the victim's daughter said. "It was a huge number in a few hours."
Police told the victim, they believed this was the work of professional thieves who took the cards, split them up, and then hit several stores at the same time.
"She feels violated and vulnerable," the victim's daughter said. "She's worked hard her whole life to have great credit and be in good standing to be quickly invaded. It's a very unsettling crime.”
The victim hopes the pair are captured, so no one else has to go through the hardship of piecing their life back together one phone call at a time.
