‘I used to be focused within the paint-throwing rip-off and thieves acquired away with £8,000 in jewelry and garments,’ Made in Chelsea star reveals – as she tells of second she realised one thing was unsuitable
A made in Chelsea star who was targeted in a terrifying new paint-throwing scam has told of the moment she realised something was wrong.
Yasmine Zweegers, 25, had £8,000 worth of jewellery and belongings stolen from her while she waited outside London‘s St Pancras International station, in King’s Cross, on Sunday evening.
The influencer – who was with her mum at the time – was about to get into an Uber when a man called out to her, warning her she had brown paint on her back.
He then offered the shocked reality TV star a tissue to clean the mess from her coat – before her bag was snatched while she was distracted.
Yasmine told MailOnline: ‘I didn’t clock it immediately. I didn’t realise that the paint was part of the whole setup.
‘I had got into the Uber already and then I said to the driver ‘my other bag is in the boot right?’ because normally I’d always have it with me.
‘But he goes: ‘There was no other bag’, and at that moment I realised it must have all been a setup.
‘I didn’t even see it happening. I don’t know at what point the bag was taken. I went into panic mode.’
Yasmine Zweegers, 25, had £8,000 worth of jewellery and belongings stolen from her while she waited outside London ‘s St Pancras International station, in King’s Cross, on Sunday evening
The influencer – who was with her mum at the time – was about to get into an Uber when a man called out to her, warning her she had brown paint on her back. Pictured: Paint left on Yasmine’s jacket
The man then offered the shocked reality TV star a tissue to clean the mess from her coat – before her bag was snatched while she was distracted. Pictured: Yasmine talks about the ordeal on TikTok
Yasmine told MailOnline: ”I didn’t I didn’t clock it immediately. I didn’t realise that the paint was part of the whole setup’
When she realised what had happened Yasmine said she felt ‘completely violated’ as she had thought the man who offered her the tissues was ‘just being nice’.
She added how the thief was probably ‘loving life’ when he saw a laptop, a Cartier watch and a camera in the stolen bag among jewellery and other valuables.
Yasmine fears the scammers will strike again and believes the man who warned her about the paint on her back was acting alongside a team of other crooks, who were prowling nearby.
She says three people have approached her with stories similar to hers after she posted a TikTok detailing the ordeal.
She said: ‘I had got into the Uber already and then I said to the driver, ‘my other bag is in the boot right?’, because normally I’d always have it with me. ‘But he goes, ‘There was no other bag’, and at that moment I realised it must have all been a setup’
When she realised what had happened Yasmine said she felt ‘completely violated’ as she had thought the man who offered her the tissues was ‘just being nice’. Pictured: The brown paint that was thrown on Yasmine’s jacket
Yasmine said how she thought the thief was probably ‘loving life’ when he saw a laptop, a Cartier watch and a camera in the stolen bag among jewellery and other valuables
‘In King’s Cross I think it’s one particular group because it’s happened a few times. I spoke to another girl who said the exact same thing happened to her in King’s Cross.
‘Three people have now messaged me saying the exact same thing.’
The alarming scam has meant Yasmine is now ‘far less trusting of strangers’.
She explained: ‘I never would have thought someone who was being kind would be about to completely violate me.’
Sharing her advice to other Londoners Yasmine said: ‘Literally take with you the bare minimum if you’re going around in London.
‘Take the bare minimum of what you need. Don’t take your whole wallet. You don’t need your whole wallet.’
She added: ‘I honestly think getting into a black cab is best when you’re when you’re traveling and have got lots of things on you like luggage and everything.
‘Black cabs might be a bit more expensive or whatever, but I think it’s honestly not worth running around the roads and trying to find an Uber, just get into a black cab.
‘You’re spending so much time either looking at the best route home or checking for your Uber so then you’re so fixated on your phone, you’re not really looking at what’s going on around you.’
Made in Chelsea’s Yasmine Zweegers and her mum, Marianne, who she was with when she was targeted
Taking to TikTok in a video which has since gone viral Yasmine told her 196,000 followers: ‘This is such a silly scam that anyone would probably fall for. I literally don’t want this to happen to anybody else.
She continued: ‘We were about to go to the taxi and this man comes up from behind me and goes ‘excuse me, you’ve got some s*** on your back’.
‘I said ‘sorry?’. He says ‘you’ve got stuff on your back’.
‘At the time my mum was like ‘oh my gosh when did that happen? I’ve literally been standing there behind you the whole time’.
‘It was mental how we both completely did not even notice when that happened.
‘The man then hands me over a pack of tissues. So I take the tissues, and it made me think ‘let me take me coat off to wipe the paint’.
‘Now in hindsight, I should have never taken my coat off.
‘I was so silly I literally go to the man [who] I thought was such a kind man, I was saying ‘thank you for the tissues’.’
Yasmine explained she was worried about getting paint from her coat on the inside of the Uber so was holding the jacket up at the time.
She suspects this was when her bag was taken.
‘We had just come from a family’s party in Yorkshire – jewellery, laptop, camera – everything, you name it, it was gone. I didn’t want to wear any of this around London so it was all in that bag,’ she explained.
The theft against Yasmine is the latest reported criminal scam to hit the capital.
The surge in thefts has already prompted a major operation by the Metropolitan Police to crackdown on the scourge plaguing the city.
A spokesperson for British Transport Police said: ‘We received an online report on Monday (10 February) concerning a distraction theft outside St Pancras railway station in London the previous evening, at around 8.30pm.
‘Enquiries are ongoing. We know how upsetting, inconvenient and potentially costly incidents of theft can be.
‘We use a variety of tactics to ensure journeys remain safe including uniform and plain clothes patrols and thousands of CCTV cameras across the rail network.
‘Every offence reported provides valuable intelligence which is used to direct our patrols and operations.’
