Residents advised to be vigilant as car park scam continues
Updated: 23-Jul-2010
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An American resident from the Lagos area avoided becoming yet another victim of a car park robbery scam after she was approached by the same “nice looking couple” asking for directions in the Lidl supermarket car park in Vila do Bispo twice in the same week.
The resident, who wished not to be named, told the Algarve Resident: “The couple stopped me on the Monday afternoon (July 12) and asked for directions to Lisbon. As they left, they pulled across the street instead of following the directions. My husband was in the car so nothing was taken and we did not suspect anything.
“Then, on Wednesday (July 14), the same couple, driving a dark silver Renault Clio with a Spanish registration, stopped me again in the Lidl car park. I said “Are you still lost?” and turned around and saw a man with his hand on my car door and crouching down looking in. I spotted him and shouted, and then the car with the couple sped off and the man disappeared.”
She added: “I am pleased that I didn’t fall victim to the scam but I wish I had taken the registration of the car to be able to give this to police. It was only when I read in the Algarve Resident that this scam was going on in other areas that I knew this had been happening across the Algarve.”
Be suspicious
CEO of afpop, Portugal’s largest foreign residents association, Michael Reeve said: “We have received information from some members this week about a new variation on theft from cars and we are alerting our members to this for their own safety.”
He added: “A member told us that she had been coming back from a supermarket with some shopping when a small dark car stopped her. A couple in their thirties who spoke both Spanish and English and were nicely dressed told her that they were lost and looking to get to Faro airport.
“The lady in the car wanted specific information and more details, and showed her a roadmap. It was only a few minutes later when they left that she found her car with a flat tyre and noticed that her bag was missing. The bag contained all official documents, passport, driving licence, car documents, residency card, wallet with money and bankcards.”
Michael Reeve said: “As unpleasant as it may be to avoid giving assistance to a stranger in apparent need and seemingly harmless to us, we are suggesting to our members to avoid such situations unless the person is known to them.”
Protect yourself from ‘car park’ theft
The following list has been compiled by afpop and sent to their members to help stop more people becoming victims of this type of crime in the Algarve.
1. Be very alert when helping anyone asking for any information, even when they look honest and sympathetic.
2. Be especially vigilant in the parking areas of supermarkets and if you are not in your vehicle, lock it, even if you are stood next to it.
3. Have all your official documents copied. Travel locally with copies only and leave the original documents safely at home.
4. Do not carry too many bankcards with you.
5. Have emergency telephone numbers of your bank with you and not within a wallet or purse in order to cancel your accounts on the spot. Keep a document in your vehicle with the details or have access to them in some way that allows you to cancel cards as quickly as possible
6. Have no PIN code numbers of your bankcards, even in a cryptographic way, with you. Keep the numbers in your head.
7. Report any suspicious activity in supermarket car parks etc to the store’s information desk and ask them to contact the police.
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