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Two sneaky thieves unleashed a terrible trick on a Streeterville salon worker on Halloween. While the hard-working receptionist posed for costume photos with her teammates, two crooks stole her coat and purse, then emptied her bank account before she even knew what happened.
“Within an hour of leaving the salon, they were spending,” a friend of the victim told CWBChicago. “This girl makes $15 an hour as a receptionist at a salon.”
The woman’s story is a cautionary tale for anyone who works in a business where the public comes and goes with ease.
According to the victim’s friend, the thieves entered the salon and asked to use the bathroom.
“Then they loitered a bit and stole the purse while the salon staff gathered together to take a photo of their Halloween costumes,” the friend said.
Surveillance video shows two women walk down a hallway around 1:15 p.m. on Oct. 31. While one woman fiddles with something on a shelf, the other slips into a salon suite to gather up the victim’s Canada Goose coat and her purse. Then, the women slip out as smoothly as they entered.
“They used [the victim’s] credit card within 30 minutes. Cleared out her checking. Spent $1,500 at Nordstrom and tried another $3,000 charge on the credit card,” the friend said. Fraud protection caught the last attempt.
Credit and debit card charges are only part of the problem, though.
“They now have her home address, keys to everything,” the friend said. The victim is changing the locks at home, but she’s still understandably nervous. “They’re scared someone will show up.”
The victim filed a police report, and a detective is supposed to be assigned to the case. But there have been no breaks so far.
“She’s just so sad and it’s so violating, especially from your place of work,” the friend said. “I hope someone recognizes them, or at least the article helps other shop owners not get hit.”