The police in Alberta says that the public must have strangers to ask for hugs or share sobs stories after three people were arrested in a series of distraction robberies throughout Canada.
The Edmonton Police says that officers have received at least 63 reports since May of people who have stolen belongings while they are distracted by thieves.
Three women were accused of robbery last week in an investigation that also involved RCMP and the Canada Border Services Agency.
Arrest orders for three more have been issued that are believed to be part of the scheme. It is believed that the most are out there, said Edmonton Police const. Shiva Shunmugam.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Shunmugam said it is believed that suspects are connected with similar robberies from BC to Toronto.
“It is not limited to Alberta,” he said. “It is throughout Canada.”
The tactic, they say, is simple.
The thieves, who act in groups that resemble families, approach vulnerable people in places from grocery stores to parking lots to establish a conversation, going so far as to ask for a hug or make them “bless” jewels.
But during the interaction, Shunmugam said, thieves will steal the victim’s jewels and flee in a vehicle, often marked with a BC, Ontario or Quebec plate.
Edmonton’s general crime rate fell six percent in 2024, but many say they still feel insecure. While violent crime in the city fell, drug possession and messy behavior increased. The interim chief Warren Driechel talked about how the police are addressing the issue of perceived security.
It is an alarming trend that the police say that it is carried out from coast to coast.
RCMP in British Columbia has said that several robberies took place earlier this summer, where a woman had vulnerable elderly people with compliments, while an accomplice tried to replace the jewels with almost useless deceptions.
The Ottawa police made a call last month for the public’s help after a man and a woman in their 90 years had their rings and snapped necklaces.
In Winnipeg, two men who believe they are part of a travel jewelry scam were charged in similar distraction robberies in recent months. In one case, the man had a son with him and gave a false story about the need for money to travel, offering false gold jewels.
A case in Edmonton saw a 70 -year -old woman who stole her gold necklace after a man told her that she looked like her deceased grandmother.
When asked why the CBSA was involved in the investigation in Edmonton, Shunmugam confirmed that some of the suspects have claimed the protected state. Canada grants protected status to people considered who need protection or who are refugees fleeing persecution in their country of origin.
He also said there was a “strong link” among the suspects, but did not confirm if they were related to the blood.
“This particular group is transient, so it is very difficult for us to reduce [down] About them because … they move quickly, “Shunmugam said.” All I can say is that they live together [and] Move together in most occurrences. “
Shunmugam said thieves are exploiting people’s confidence and that victims have been emotionally impacted, and a recent victim says he feels too traumatized to leave his home.
“Don’t let people in your personal space,” he said.
“If someone is … openly friendly with you and trying to enter and violate your personal space by confusing you, tell them to stop and [that] He will call the police. “
