Toronto police have issued a public safety alert about distractions thefts specifically targeting the Muslim community and are asking them to be vigilant.

The alert says incidents began to be reported around October 2024, where the suspects approach potential victims in parking lots, malls or stores and starting a conversation with them with a greeting, asking where the nearest mosque is or asking for money or help.

The suspect then uses the opportunity to steal from the victim’s pockets, bags or directly from their body.

In other instances, police say the suspects travel in a vehicle groups of four and approach victims, offering to sell them jewelry. Once the victims are close enough, the suspects remove the victim’s jewelry and replace it with costume jewelry. Victims don’t notice the swap and loss of property until after the suspects have fled the area.

Police offer the following tips to prevent this type of crime:

• Hide jewelry under clothing or make sure it cannot be easily removed.
• Be wary of strangers who do not respect personal space or touch you in any way.
• Do not let strangers get physically close to you — if they are close enough to put a necklace on you, they’re likely too close.
• Be aware of your surroundings and report any suspicious or criminal activity to police or Crime Stoppers.
• When reporting an incident to police, try to remember descriptors like age, ethnicity, accent, gender, height, weight, build, any identifying marks or scars including tattoos, the make of the vehicle they were driving or the license plate and what they said to you.

Anyone with information or who feels they have been a victim of such a crime is asked to contact police.