Gangs target pubs and clubs for phones and bags

Phones placed on bar counters and tables, wallets left in unattended jackets, and ladies’ handbags, are the main targets for the gangs, who often ‘hit the city’ for a night or a weekend.

A growing scam with the gangs is to ‘zoom in’ on patrons paying for their drinks using an ATM card on a busy night with one of them watching out for the pin number being keyed in.

The gang then do a ‘watch’ on the customer before either picking their pockets later on – or waiting for the wallet to be left in an unattended jacket.

A spokesman for Galway Gardai said that while the city didn’t have the same level of crimes involving the ‘snatch and grab’ of phones on the street as the likes of Dublin had, the pub and club thefts were an ongoing occurrence.

“We’ve had instances where customers out for the night have had their accounts cleaned out and sometimes they mightn’t discover this until the following day.

“Once they (the gang) get the pin number and the card, they’ll have the maximum amount withdrawn from the account a short time later. This is just happening too often and people out for the night need to be far more careful with their personal belongings,” said the Garda spokesman.

He said that some customers still had the habit of leaving mobile phones unattended on counters, tables and handbags in busy pubs – an open invitation for the gangs to pick up an expensive piece of electronic equipment without too much trouble.

“Really what we are saying to people is to never, ever, leave their mobile phones unattended whether it be on a table, bar counter, handbag or jacket.

“These phones on average can be worth in the region of €300 to €400. Would a person leave that amount of cash on a table without keeping an eye on it – people really do need to be far more security conscious with their phones, wallets, cards and cash,” said the Garda spokesman.

For more on this story, see this week's Galway City Tribune