What looks like a friendly stranger in a parking lot may actually be part of a growing theft trend that police across the D.C., Maryland, and Virginia region are now warning people about, and as ABC 7 News reporter Lianna Golden explained, the scam works because it feels disarming right up until the moment someone realizes their jewelry is gone.
Golden reported that police in both Montgomery County and Fairfax County are seeing an uptick in what they call “distraction thefts,” a kind of crime built around quick conversation, fake kindness, and physical contact that is used to take valuables right off a person’s body. In one Fairfax County case, police say a woman in a white SUV approached a victim in Springfield, placed a ring on her finger, hugged her, and stole her necklace before speeding away.
It is the kind of theft that sounds almost too bold to work, but that seems to be exactly why it does.
A Scam Built On Confusion, Not Force
Golden said the trend is picking up in busy public places such as shopping centers and parking lots, where people are often distracted already and less likely to immediately suspect they are being targeted…