Sadly, it’s not uncommon for people to face sudden, unexpected and expensive medical bills. It’s also becoming increasingly normal to find out that your identity has been stolen. These two worlds collide in the story of a California man who recently found out he was being charged gobs of money by a hospital for a medical procedure someone had performed using his identity. [More]
theft
Hawaiian Stores Reporting An Uptick In Spam Thefts
By 10.23.17
While we know that common items like detergent, pregnancy tests, weight loss pills, and diapers, and even baby formula can be popular with shoplifters, stores in Hawaii are facing a new trend in thievery: Cans of Spam are flying off shelves as folks with sticky fingers try to make a quick buck. [More]
Home Depot Replaces Family’s Stolen Halloween Decorations
By 10.18.17
For the past several weeks, families across the country have been decorating their homes in preparation for the upcoming Halloween holiday. One New Mexico family found all that hard work destroyed recently when ne’er-do-wells stole their trimmings. But to their surprise an unlikely hero emerged to save the day… er, holiday. [More]
Waitress Accused Of Stealing Almost $500K From Regular Customer
By 10.18.17
Being a regular at a dining establishment can come with some perks; the servers knows what you like and you might even receive a free dessert here or there. But for one New York woman it also came with a rather big drawback: The waitress she befriended allegedly bilked her out of $500,000. [More]
County Worker Accused Of Stealing $1.2M Worth Of Fajitas Over 9 Years
By 10.16.17
We hate handing out tips to wannabe white-collar criminals, but if you’re going to use your job to steal millions of dollars in food, at least make sure you’re in the office to answer calls about your latest shipment of embezzled Tex-Mex arrives. [More]
Uber Facing At Least 5 Federal Investigations, Claims Report
By 10.11.17
Uber’s recent woes — a $20 million text message spamming settlement, an ousted CEO, investigations into sneaky software, and other issues — continue to deepen, as the Department of Justice has now reportedly opened at least five investigations into the company and its business practices. [More]
“Baby Arm Johnson” And Two Others Plead Guilty To Parts In $12M Retail Theft Ring
By 9.27.17
If you’re going to be involved in a massive, nationwide retail theft scheme, you might as well have a good nickname — like “Baby Arm Johnson” or the “Field Marshall” — for when you get caught. [More]
Two Men Simply Walk Out Of Walmart After Scooping Up 5 TVs
By 8.7.17
Two men in Pennsylvania were able to slip into the stock area of a Walmart store at lunchtime last Tuesday, walking out with five large flat-panel televisions. How? They didn’t disguise themselves as store employees, and were caught on camera, but no one stopped them. Now police are looking for help identifying them. [More]
Women Accused Of Stealing $69K Worth Of Cosmetics From 32 Walgreens, CVS Stores
By 8.3.17
How many CVS and Walgreens locations do you have to steal lipstick, eyeshadow, concealer, and other beauty products from in order to get to $69,000? According to the Miami Dade Police Department the answer is 32. [More]
People Stealing Stuff From Stores Reaches All-Time High
By 6.22.17 — Updated: 6.27.17
Retailers are spending less on loss prevention, and maybe that’s not such a good idea. In 2016, the rate of “shrinkage,” or inventory that goes missing for any reason, increased to 1.44% of all sales, or a total of almost $48.9 billion. [More]
The Russians Are After Our Chocolate And Slot Machines
By 6.8.17
When you think of mobsters involved in trafficking stolen goods, perhaps you drugs, cigarettes, and guns come to mind. But the more than 30 people associated with an alleged Russian crime syndicate in New York arrested this week are also accused of dealing in something a bit sweeter — 10,000 pounds of pilfered chocolate. [More]
Motorcycle Gang Members Used Key Codes To Boost $4.5M Worth Of Jeep Wranglers
By 6.2.17 — Updated: 6.9.17
All it took was a few stolen key designs and computer codes for a biker gang to successfully steal more than 150 Jeep Wranglers — valued at $4.5 million — from the U.S. and relocate them to Mexico in a years-long heist. [More]
Man Charged With Stealing Nearly $1 Million Worth Of Bees
By 5.17.17
Maybe you weren’t aware, but bees are big business: With bee colonies mysteriously vanishing, hive owners can make a good income renting out their insects to farmers who need extra help with pollination. Those beekeepers will be happy to hear that authorities in California have busted a man suspected of stealing almost $1 million worth of bees and equipment. [More]
Why Are People Still Stealing Old Cooking Grease From Restaurants?
By 5.4.17
Way back in 1998, in an episode titled “Lard of the Dance,” Homer and Bart Simpson became grease bandits, draining local restaurants of their used fryer oil and reselling it for a profit. Two decades later, folks are still imitating these animated grease grabbers, stealing oil from eateries and selling it to be refined into biodiesel. [More]
Apple Store Thieves Run Off With $24K In Useless Products
By 4.26.17
If you’ve browsed an Apple Store recently, you may notice that the display devices are no longer tethered to their docks or tables. That’s because new security measures mean that the devices don’t work outside of the store. Maybe no one told the five young men who ran off with with more than 20 devices that can only really be used as pretty paperweights. [More]
Man Stole $11,000 In Stuff From Home Depot, Then Returned It All For Refunds
By 4.18.17
Most practitioners of the “hot exchange” — the retail grift where a fraudster steals an item then “returns” it to the store for a refund — are happy to chisel away a criminal living, earning $50 here, $100 there. But one Texas man was thinking big when he stole — and then returned — more than $11,000 from Home Depot stores. [More]
Woman Dressed As Target Employee, Stole $40K In iPhones
By 3.28.17
A Target store in Virginia is missing more than $40,000 worth of iPhones after police say a woman masquerading as an employee simply walked out of the store with the devices. [More]
Thieves Use Comcast Van As Getaway Vehicle
By 3.17.17
Thieves use all manner of transportation to make a (sometimes) speedy getaway from their crime scenes: a horse, taxis, motorized shopping carts; the list goes on. This week, a pair of robbers added to this rich history, driving away from the scene of a crime in a stolen Comcast van. [More]
