marion talbot
Marion Talbot

A BRITISH expat has had her purse and €600 stolen in a supermarket scam in Nerja.

Widow Marion Talbot, 64, was robbed in a lift in Mercadona after paying for her shopping on a debit card, with her pin being spotted by the thief.

She was pickpocketed as she backed into the lift with a trolley and two ‘neatly dressed’ men  in their mid to late twenties accompanied her.

As she came to leave the lift her way was blocked by one of the men, who bent over to pick up some coins on the floor, and it was then that she believes the other man took her purse.

It was only upon returning home that she found her purse was gone and checking her balance, saw it severely depleted.

“You never think these scams will happen to you but when it does you feel violated,” said Talbot.

“These people target vulnerable women on their own and now I must admit it makes me feel paranoid.”

A spokesman for Mercadona in Nerja confirmed that thieves have been targeting expats.

“Thieves target older foreigners, mainly because they tend to carry more cash – Spaniards aren’t usually worth robbing,” said Mercadona supervisor Salvador Ortega.

Ortega recommended shoppers carry as little cash as possible and be on their guard.

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4 COMMENTS

  1. The same thing happened to me in Mercadona, Sabanillas ( which is notorious for this sort of thing). I don’t see the point of these supermarkets hiring security guards because from my experience they are USELESS. I feel for you Marion because it feels like a violation

  2. Security guards aren’t worth a light in these circumstances. The key for thieves is the ability to garner someone’s pin number. Once that is achieved (sometimes by staff collusion) it is then fairly easy for skilled “dips” to pinch the card, either on the spot or on a later occasion. Efficient card-reader screens eliminate “over-the-shoulder” pin number theft, leaving the fair certainty of staff involvement. (The most probable scenario).

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