You Should Always Clip Your Purse To Your Cart, Police Warn

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While the holiday season can bring a lot of joy, it’s also the perfect time for criminals to strike.

From gift card scams to one involving email and FedEx, you really can’t be too careful.

Now, police are warning us of a very simple crime that could really snarl our last-minute holiday shopping (and our year-round shopping excursions)—criminals stealing our wallets right from our purses.

While you’re busy picking out the perfect gift for your loved ones or hitting those after-Christmas sales, thieves can swipe your credit cards and buy their own presents—with your money.

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A police department in New Hampshire is warning consumers about this easy to pull off crime and offering a simple tip that can keep the rest of our holiday season (and our wallets) happy.

“When using a shopping cart as you browse through the store, keep your purse zipped or closed and secure it to the cart by clipping the child safety belt through the strap(s),” the Windham Police Department wrote on Facebook. “This will help in preventing someone from taking advantage of your distraction and running off with the purse.”

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So simple, yet so secure. It will only take you a few seconds to strap your purse in and it could save you a lot of of trouble later.

Getty Images | Adam Berry

“For those carts that don’t have the child strap, keep an inexpensive carabiner clip attached to your purse strap,” the post continues. “Simply clip the carabiner to the cart and your purse is more secure.”

Getty Images | Samir Hussein

You can buy 10 of these clips on Amazon for just $11, so you can put one in each of your bag, or keep some in your car for unexpected shopping trips.

Getty Images | Adam Berry

While this is of course important around the holidays, it’s important to remember that it can happen any time of the year, so it’s best to always implement a level of precaution.

Getty Images | Harrods

Other safety tips that are good to remember year-round include simply staying alert, hiding shopping bags and gifts in the trunk of your car and not carrying large amounts of cash.

[H/T: Good Housekeeping]

About the Author

Kaitlin Gates

Kaitlin is a freelance multimedia journalist with a degree in journalism and psychology. Along with Don't Waste Your Money, she also writes for Simplemost, where she covers new product and food launches and overall general news. You can email her at kaitlingateswrites@gmail.com or find her on Facebook at Facebook.com/KaitlinGatesWrites. More.

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