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5/1/23
By: Anthony Hynes
Have you ever seen a person Shoplifting? Well, shoplifting is a big problem in the US and other parts of the world. It happens so oftenly, that they steal about $35 million dollars per DAY. That’s $12.7 BILLION dollars per year. If you add all of that up, that amounts up to.. Well.. a lot. It has become so common that shop owners have been putting cameras outside in the parking lots so if a shoplifter comes in and steals anything, the camera will catch the thief in their car and license plate.
Ways They Prevent Thievery
Store owners are thinking of ways to prevent shoplifters from stealing various items. From toothpaste to food to valuable items, some of these shoplifters may get caught without actually stealing anything. But store owners have even thought of ways to prevent even the smallest products from getting stolen. They put chips inside of some devices such as electric powered ones. These chips work by making the tool only able to use once purchased. If a shoplifter were to steal it and try to use it, the tool would not work. It is the same as some gift cards that have barcodes so where it only activates when purchased. These types of protection can really help stop some of the thievery that happens not only in the US, but the entire world.
Some of the store owners are even going as far as to put locks on the devices, and when you purchase the item the store will send you a code to enter into the case/device. They are going out of their way to put these locks on products just so they don’t lose their hard earned money, which should never be a problem. Most of the stores like big franchises such as Walmart, Kroger, or Meijer have detectors at the entrances, and will even have security near them. Very few stores though, don’t have those types of sensors or security. So if a thief comes in and nabs something, it will be gone forever. A lot of stores have them though, but they can run through the detectors and if they are fast enough, they will get in their vehicle and drive off.
Officers on the scene after the shooting in Pleasanton, CA.
How Shoplifters Get Away
Trying to intervene with a shoplifter is not recommended, even if they are/aren’t armed with any knives or firearms. Most of them will not have any weapons, but some will. An alleged Home-Depot robber had shot and killed an employee who tried to stop the criminal. The employee was 26-year old Blake Mohs, who died due to his injuries after being brought to the hospital. These types of situations really show how it is best for the police to deal with these criminals
instead of risking your own life to stop them.
Some people will also try to scam you of your own money, pretending to be store employees trying to get you to buy something, either in a box or a closed case, and it will be filled with something heavy that might not be the product. Many people tend to get away with pulling this stuff, especially on the elderly. But most people know how to avoid these scams if they ever see them. Which brings us into our next topic.
Scammers
There are scammers all around the globe, and even in your local convenience store. People will tell you that you might have some bills to pay, or try to get you to buy something, but a lot of people know these scams when they see them. Some people don’t though, and tend to fall for these scams, losing money. This can consist of children, the elderly, or people who haven’t heard of scams.
Mark Rober's Exploding Glitter Bomb Scammer Trap, getting glitter everywhere.
Mark Rober, a famous Youtuber & Former NASA Engineer, made 5 different types of boxes that combat these scams. Each being better than the last. The idea consisted of placing the box on a porch, waiting for someone to steal it, then when the person opens the box, they get hit with flashing lights, fart spray, glitter, and sounds to disorient the person. The person who stole the package might get scared and throw the package out, but the box has a GPS and 4 different cameras to track where it is. The box also sends the location of the box to the police, in which they investigate the person who took it. Mark even sent one of the packages to a scam call center in India, in which they got an unpleasant surprise of rats, cockroaches, fart spray, different sounds, and more. He has been designing these boxes for over 3 years, but then discontinued with his last one, Glitterbomb v5.0 (see details below).
We’ve covered shoplifters, scammers, and ways to prevent them. Since they steal billions a year, we need to upgrade our tactics to combat this shoplifting war. There are links below to channels mentioned above that do make inventions to stop them.
Contributor Bio
Anthony Hynes is a 6th grader at EJHS, spending most of his time either playing video games or watching movies.
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