Urban legends — stories told around the office cooler, or at your child’s soccer game, or among friends after work — aren’t always harmless tales designed to provide a few scares or laughs the pass the time. Sometimes, urban legends that prove untrue can have individuals worried about scams or crimes that actually don’t exist, which makes it that much harder to believe in the occasionally sensational methods used by criminals that only sound like a tall tale.

Consider a recent report from the Today show about ‘sliders.’ This unlikely term has been applied to thieves who target women pumping gas into their cars. With the purse on the front seat, and their attention diverted to the act of fueling up, these women are victimized by individuals who emerge from a nearby parked car, stay low to the ground, and snatch the purse through either an open window or an unlocked door. Although it sounds incredible, police are warning women not to leave their purses unattended at gas stations unless all of their doors are locked and their windows are sealed.

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