Shoplifters adopt innovative tactics

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Shoplifters have a host of smart ideas and methods to get away with their steals. Store managers say that most of them steal jus

It didn’t come as a surprise for those working in the retail sector, when a Gurgaon-based man was caught shoplifting expensive items from Select Citywalk, Saket recently. After investigation, the cops discovered that it wasn’t his first offence and that he’s been shoplifting for a long time now.
Employees who manage big stores say that many items from stores go missing almost daily. Rishav Negi, store manager at one Max outlets in the city, says that 90 per cent of the time they are unable to catch the offender. “Such incidences happen on a regular basis and no matter how well our security system is, thieves come up with smarter ways of not just lifting stuff but getting away with it,” informs Rishav.
He mentions a recent case where a woman removed tags from some of the items she selected at the store and packed them in another bag that she had got with her.
“We suspected her because while paying for some items she had bought from us, when she took out her wallet from her jacket pocket, a small pair of scissors fell out. One of the security personnel saw that and kept an eye on her. When her bag was checked while she was leaving, we found several unbilled items,” says Rishav.
In the case of the Gurgaon-based man, he visited the stores with his baby in a pram. He hid expensive gadgets picked up from the store in secret pockets of the pram. A senior official from Big Bazaar says that such cases are rampant in multi-purpose stores.
“Lifting small-sized items on the sly is not too difficult and it happens often. But the sad part is that we lose a lot of expensive items on a daily basis despite strict security and surveillance,” says the official.
“Ten unique cases happen everyday. Sometimes, if we suspect a person, a personnel from the Perfect Protection Cell (PPC) is asked to keep a strict eye on him. We also click pictures of serial offenders and circulate them in all our stores,” says the official.
While smaller items are easy to lift, some expert shoplifters are quite adept at picking up bigger items too. “We often come across people who visit our shops with an intention to lift items. In a recent incident, a woman brought a handbag of our store folded and packed in her purse. She bought some stuff and got them billed. But she also picked up a few things and put them in the bag she got from home. She could have easily escaped if one of our staff hadn’t suspected her. She was asked her to pay for the clothes that she had lifted,” says an official from a leading fashion store on condition of anonymity.
Employees managing stores prefer not to get cops involved in cases of shoplifting, especially when the items stolen don’t have a steep price tag. “Most of them don’t steal because they are short of cash. They suffer from compulsive disorder. Taking them to the police would only increase our problems,” sums up Rishav.