New device that literally catches thieves red-handed

Updated
Woman being followed
Woman being followed


With a simple text message, a purse snatcher could be permanently marked.

Created by Ash Be Nimble, a woman-owned fitness apparel company, the Handbag Dyetonator hopes to make it very clear just who is committing crimes against women.

See also: Ten most notorious criminals of all time

See also: Elderly man has car keys stolen at petrol station

The Malaysian brand took notice of the country's 36% rise in snatch thefts over 2016, and developed a GPS enabled device that can pinpoint the location of a woman's purse within 32 feet.

But finding the bag itself wasn't good enough, the brand wanted to help bring the thieves to justice.

The Handbag Dyetonator, disguised as a cute purse accessory, weighs a little over three ounces, and is about the size of a deck of playing cards.

You can get five days of standby time with only a two hour USB charge.

To mark the thief, a colored dye pack detonates within five seconds of being activated by text message, and then a brightly colored smoke pack flares for four minutes.

The Handbag Dyetonator has a waiting list to purchase, and is not available to the public yet.

While the initial goal is to identify snatch thieves, as the technology catches on, it could also be a theft deterrent.

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