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AMA

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Original poster

Im a retired shoplifter AMA

278 replies

WorkingGirlJem · 04/01/2019 15:17

That's it really. Have been a shoplifter for approx 10 years, and have recently decided to stop.
I'm not proud of myself, am fully expecting to get flamed, but and am hoping getting this out there will help with my resolve to stop permanently.
AMA

OP posts:
Original poster
WorkingGirlJem · 04/01/2019 19:50

ItsHardToExplain I am aware that I am not allowed to give anyone tips, idea or help to shoplift. It is I believe against the law to put something like that on an open forum, hence the reason I won't elaborate.
I was looking on a forum of a shoplifters site a year or so ago and the tips there blew me away even though I had been doing it such a long time.

OP posts:
CerysC · 04/01/2019 19:51

Very honest OP. Good luck

Skatersbeskating · 04/01/2019 19:51

Did you find it varied in frequency due to what time of the month it was?

I want to know if mood has anything to do with it & if there was a pattern?

Original poster
WorkingGirlJem · 04/01/2019 19:55

YepImafraidIchangeditagain I do regret it as I dislike the greedy, dishonest person it has made me become.
I don't think I would be tempted ever again, no matter how easy something looked to lift. The main reason for that is because I feel unbelievably lucky not to have been caught, and because believe it or not, physically buying all my Christmas presents (and everything since) felt so good.

OP posts:
Sallygoroundthemoon · 04/01/2019 19:58

I'm leaving this thread. You are vile OP.

ilovesooty · 04/01/2019 19:58

Do you require an enhanced DBS for your employment?

VictoriaBun · 04/01/2019 19:59

I don't know how people have the balls (!) to do it. Once a good few years ago and whilst on holiday were were in a camping / outdoor shop, my dh was looking for a map, I found a few and took them to him. We were sorting them out and I tucked one under my arm incase we also wanted that one. He found the one he wanted, we bought it and went to leave the shop. I'd forgotten about the tucked under arm one and the alarm went off. My instinct was to run !! I was shocked and embarrassed froze for a second and then threw it into the shop before making a hasty retreat wouldn't make a good one

Cauliflowersqueeze · 04/01/2019 20:00

I’d be crap as well. I feel guilty walking through Nothing to Declare at the airport and I never have anything to declare.

Madbengalmum · 04/01/2019 20:02

It is shocking to see that there is actually a forum for these people to share tips on shoplifting on. Imagine if all the time taken doing such research was put into actually working for a living and paying tax!

Original poster
WorkingGirlJem · 04/01/2019 20:08

cauliflower

  1. really difficult to say as sometimes I would go on a spree twice a week and sometimes only once a fortnight.
I rarely took one or two things, because if there was an opportunity to steal, the temptation would be to take as much as possible. A spree would be anywhere between £60 and £300
  1. No, I have never stolen anything from somebody in the way you describe. Like most shoplifters I (wrongly) felt that I wasn't really harming anyone as I wasn't targeting an individual.
  1. Nobody ever commented in a way that suggested they suspected anything.
  1. I honestly cannot remember. It was last November and at the time I wasn't aware it would be the last time.

skater I am not aware that it followed a pattern or varied with the time of the month. All I can say is, sometimes I felt braver than others. There were occasions that while in the shop that I suddenly changed my mind about stealing something. Like a sixth sense with no rhyme or reason.
It wasn't to do with low mood either. In the early days I did it to cheer myself up. In latter years it was just because I could.

OP posts:
MrsCar · 04/01/2019 20:09

Are you/were you nervous walking out the door of the store with a stolen item?

Are you deterred by security guards?

marthastew · 04/01/2019 20:09

I wonder if shop security teams ever hire ex-shoplifters to help them improve security/spot shoplifters in the same way that ex-hackers work for IT security firms?

Kikipost · 04/01/2019 20:09

@Penninepain

You’re friend didn’t shop lift

She stole £2500 (from whom?)

Different crime

IAmAlwaysLikeThis · 04/01/2019 20:10

I din’t really get why mn is so massively snooty and judgemental.

Is it a great thing to do? Obviously not. But she’s said she’s trying to change so give her a fucking break ffs.

I bet some of you do shit that others would judge you for so chill.

Cauliflowersqueeze · 04/01/2019 20:12

What would your main advice be to shopkeepers of small shops about security?

Original poster
WorkingGirlJem · 04/01/2019 20:12

Ilovesooty I did require one yes.

OP posts:
MNHQ
EstherMumsnet · 04/01/2019 20:17

We've had a few reports about this thread. As long as the OP continues to ensure they don't post any tips or descriptions of how to shoplift then this thread can continue.

ilovesooty · 04/01/2019 20:17

So presumably if you'd been caught and charged that would have been the end of your career?

Hezz · 04/01/2019 20:18

lol tips on how to shoplift would be a very funny thread HQ!

CerysC · 04/01/2019 20:20

Do you have nerves of steel?

Anothermothersusername · 04/01/2019 20:21

Do you feel like a criminal OP?

Original poster
WorkingGirlJem · 04/01/2019 20:21

MrsCar Only very very occasionally am I nervous of walking through a door with a stolen item. Usually if I am unable to work out which cctv cameras might have seen me.
Not deterred by security guards. IME its not the people you can see that are the danger, its the ones you can't.

martha I have seen a programe on tv where that happened. Some people actually earn a living from doing it full time, and those people are invaluable to shops to get tips on tightening up their security.

cauliflower I really don't know as I have never taken anything from an independent shop. Although I imagine it would be more difficult to do than the larger stores.

OP posts:
violetxo · 04/01/2019 20:23

Haven't read all the comments but I had a friend who shop lifted all the time. And turns out it was actually an addiction she had and she got help for it because she couldn't stop shop lifting. She went to the doctors and got help and stopped. Didn't last long thou she's doing it agen.
She said it was the urge to do it. So good luck to you.

Original poster
WorkingGirlJem · 04/01/2019 20:29

Ilovesooty yes, it would.

Cerys The irony in your question is unreal. Up until November when i stopped, yes I had nerves of steel. I was rarely fazed by anything to do with it. I was super confident in my ability to pull it off.
However since I have stopped i am a nervous wreck. I keep recalling all the times I did it. Thinking about what could have happened, the impact it would have had on my family etc. I'm taking anxiety medication for the first time in my life. I have panic attacks at night and have been admitted to hospital twice with chest pains, which have been diagnosed as stress.
Karma eh?

Anothermother yes, I do, and I cannot for the life of me think why I found what I did so acceptable for so long.

OP posts:
Original poster
WorkingGirlJem · 04/01/2019 20:33

Thank you violet and good luck to your friend.
I thought I was addicted (or at least I might struggle to stop) however luckily I haven't even been tempted.

OP posts: