Detectives are hunting thieves who swiped thousands of pounds from two victims after spying on them in the bank.
Nottinghamshire Police’s Proactive Crime Team have released a series of CCTV stills of people that could help them with their inquiries.
The first incident started at the Nationwide Building Society in Clumber Street on August 4.
Two female suspects have followed the 76-year-old victim after watching her withdraw a large sum of money.
They boarded the number 25 bus to Carlton and carried out the distraction theft at around 1.20pm.
One of the suspects has purposefully fallen to the floor in the victim’s view.
When she has been helped up by the victim, another suspect has dipped into her bag and stolen the cash.
They both fled the scene, and the victim immediately noticed the cash had gone.
The victim, who did not wish to be named, said: “This incident has left me distressed, shocked, upset and scared. I started crying after realising what had happened and my body was shaking.”
The second incident happened at the HSBC bank in Clumber Street on July 22 between 12.40pm and 12.45pm.
The 61-year-old victim has withdrawn a large sum of money and entered the bank lift when she is followed by two suspects.
One of the suspects has prevented the victim from leaving the lift by crouching down to tie her shoelace.
The other suspect has pressed up against the victim and taken the envelope of money from her bag.
The victim, who did not wish to be named, said: “I placed the money towards the bottom of my bag, so I knew it was in a safe place.
“The incident lasted about five minutes. I am traumatised by the incident. I wanted to turn back time.”
Detective Constable Natasha Ullyatt, who is investigating the incidents, said: “These were horrendous crimes committed on two elderly victims in our city centre. The suspects have used distraction techniques to steal large amounts of money from the victims, which in total equates to more than £8,000.
“This is money that will not be reimbursed by the banks and these victims have faced hardship as a result of these thefts.
“There is no place in our city for this type of behaviour. We have been working hard to find those responsible and spent hours combing through CCTV to track them down.
“We hope that by releasing these images today, the public can help us further with our inquiries. Do you recognise the people in these images? Are you identified in the image? Please get in touch so we can eliminate you from our inquiries.
“It is important we find those responsible quickly so no one else falls victim to this type of distraction and loses large amounts of money.
“We would also encourage people not to withdraw large amounts of money from their banks. If you must then please ensure you are doing so safely.”
Any information can be left by calling the police on 101 quoting 524 of 4 August 2022 for the Nationwide incident and quoting incident 481 of 1 August 2022 for the HSBC incident. You can also call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
