A 67-year-old woman from Stafford, Virginia, has been charged with 12 different offenses, including grand larceny, identity theft, credit card theft and credit card forgery.

Mary Jo Watson allegedly stole purses from shoppers at several stores in Fredricksburg. Authorities targeted the suspect after using technology to trace a cell phone that was in one of those purses. After obtaining a warrant and searching the woman's home, they found several stolen items from all three victims.

It all began when Beverly Allen, one of the victims, was shopping on June 28th at a local store. Her purse was stolen, and a woman later identified to be Watson was caught by a security camera taking the handbag and leaving the store.

Almost a week later, Watson allegedly stole another purse at Wegmans, and used credit cards in the purse to purchase wine, cigarettes and gasoline. Later she struck again at the same store, the source reports.

Credit card theft is a concern to many in the United States. According to ScamBusters.org, it's important to shred all credit card applications one receives, as well as to never leave sensitive information lying around, in order to avoid becoming a victim of identity theft.