EXPOSED: $4.4 billion Shoplifting Economy in New York

Well, folks. I’m sure we’re all surprised at what happens to a society that doesn’t enforce laws and only attacks the innocent.

It seems that crime spreads like wildfire.

And why should these non-God fearing criminals stop?

There’s no consequences to their actions.

So, business continues as usual for them.

And in New York, we see that their business is doing very, very good.

Supermarket boss John Catsimatidis puts anti-theft coding on Häagen-Dazs https://t.co/vVOS5Mn8ID pic.twitter.com/3j59BkvPSE

— New York Post (@nypost) March 21, 2024

New York Post reports:

A shoplifting epidemic costing retailers in New York state $4.4 billion a year is creating a shadow resale economy that ranges from eBay to bodegas, The Post has learned.

Shoplifting in New York City alone rose 64% from June 2019 to June 2023, according to the Council on Criminal Justice.

In 2022, the total estimated loss to shops in the state was $4.4 billion, Gov. Kathy Hochul said in February.

And retailers and law enforcement told The Post that the need to sell the stolen goods has created a sprawling underground economy.

Thieves and middlemen are selling shoplifted goods on resale sites such as eBay and Facebook Marketplace and filling warehouse spaces at illegal pawn shops.

A raid in Queens found a space stuffed with apparently stolen goods — and a garbage bag full of removed security tags.

They are even “boosting” perishable items such as Häagen-Dazs ice cream directly to bodegas.

In one scam, they shoplift high-value items from national chains, have them returned at another branch out of state for credit and then sell the credit note for cash outside the branch.

At the most damaging levels, thieves are directed by Dickensian organizers with “shopping lists,” telling them exactly what to go after.

“They get shopping lists for items that include cellphones, power tools, handbags,” a law enforcement source who specializes in fraud told The Post.

“They bring stolen goods to [illicit] wholesalers in the five boroughs.”

The middlemen buy items for pennies on the dollar — “There is no underlying cost,” said the fraud specialist — and sell the goods.

“Members of the booster crew get their cash,” the source said.

“Then the dealer, if you will, distributes them through his own network, via storefronts, if he has them, or he puts them online and sells to consumers through Facebook Marketplace.”

To seem like typical users of online marketplaces, the law enforcement source added, fences “sell one, list the next one and keep doing that all day. Or else they maintain multiple online identities.”

A report by the National Retail Federation and private security firm K2 in April 2023 found evidence of widespread use of Facebook Marketplace, which allows users to list items for sale directly, and Craigslist.

The report looked for listings of items typically targeted by organized retail theft rings — such as Tide pods, diapers and items listed as “new with tag” — and found that in New York, 26% of listings for those items had the hallmarks of “organized retail crime.”

Facebook Marketplace did not respond to a request for comment.

An eBay spokesperson told The Post, “eBay is committed to providing a secure online shopping experience. We have zero tolerance for criminal activity.”

Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said he had busted a super-size version of such an operation.

🚨Disgusting what the Organized Retail theft has done to th streets of New York, All That Loot is why most of the businesses have fled that once Incredible City.😲#newyork #NYC #Invasion #criminals pic.twitter.com/d1ALzveuPr

— Rogue Guardian (@RealRogueGuard) March 18, 2024

But never fear.

Target is on the case.

They’ve come up with the solution to this problem so we can all rest at ease.

Target to limit self-checkout to 10 items as stores trend away from the technology amid concerns of theft https://t.co/fU5Z7rCPg1 pic.twitter.com/oiDR51XdOs

— New York Post (@nypost) March 16, 2024

Yeah, that’s the problem. 10 items or less at self-checkout.

Not the 1,000’s of raving illegal lunatics running around that city.

Well, done Target.

Even the NBA isn’t safe.

Timberwolves staffer arrested for allegedly stealing hard drive with ‘strategic NBA information’ https://t.co/dgzCE5gIr8 pic.twitter.com/kS6eTAVF51

— New York Post (@nypost) March 21, 2024