An elderly holidaymaker has been left distraught after thieves in Stirling robbed her of almost £4,000.
The 92-year-old, who was visiting from Derbyshire, was targeted as she visited several charity shops in the city centre at the weekend.
Criminals stole the woman’s handbag as she enjoyed a holiday with family.
Police Scotland said she had been left “very distressed” by the incident.
It is the latest in a spate of thefts in central Scotland and has had police officers urging shoppers to take extra care of their belongings.
Vulnerable women have been targeted in Falkirk and Perth, as well as Stirling, in recent weeks, with handbags and purses taken from the victims.
Retailers in Perth warned that they were becoming increasingly concerned that the elderly were being targeted in shops.
Police Scotland, meanwhile, is looking into indications that the same criminals could be involved in each of the thefts in Stirling and Falkirk, as all took place within charity shops.
The public is being urged to help officers track down those responsible.
The latest theft took place between 12.20pm and 2.45pm on Saturday as the victim shopped in Stirling with family members.
She alerted security staff at the Thistles Shopping Centre after realising that the handbag, containing the very significant sum of money, was missing.
PC Sandy McIntyre, of the force’s crime management unit, said the theft was “very distressing for a lady who had simply come to the area to enjoy a holiday”.
“We would ask shoppers to take great care of their belongings because this is not the first time in the Forth Valley area that a woman has had her handbag stolen.
“In Falkirk recently, two women aged 77 and 53 were the victims of similar crimes, having also been shopping in charity shops.”
The Perth incident saw grandmother Helen Stewart, 73, robbed as she browsed in a Perth store earlier this month.
The diminutive pensioner just 4ft 10in – was pushed and jostled by thieves who succeeded in unzipping her handbag to steal her purse containing bank cards and around £50.
Believing that the thieves had accidentally bumped into her, it was not until she approached the till at the Card Factory in the city’s St John’s Shopping Centre on May 8 that she realised she’d been robbed.
Shop-owners in Perth city centre said thefts and attempted thefts were so common that the regularly had to alert elderly customers and urge them to beware.
Anyone with any information on any of the thefts is asked to call Police Scotland on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.