How many times have you had things stolen from you?

[1AngelicFruitCake]

And what were they? Bit of a weird question but wondered, after reading the holiday keys, phone dilemma of where to put them, how often people have had things stolen.

I had my bag stolen as a naive 16 year old on one of my first ever nights out. I literally just left it on the chair 🙄

Purse and mobile stolen a couple of times in house robberies. I never owned anything else of value but one time the bastards stole my address book as well and this was the days before cloud so I just lost everyone's contact details I'd ever had.

Also had a coat stolen from a pub by some skanky mare with a shit hairdo. You know when people dye their hair blue and you can see their colour underneath? Like that.

And a babysitter stole cash once, from the house.

Yes. I was badly mugged near my first flat in central London. Handbag stolen, with wallet, keys, phone, makeup bag and I got a black eye and concussion. He was caught using my cards months later - he was a notorious and violent pimp. I was asked to give evidence. His defence for mugging and beating me? He needed £10 for a taxi home because he was tired.

I had my card cloned while paying at a petrol station on the North Circular, but no idea at the time. £000’s run up in half an hour a week later. Multiple clones must have been made and then used simultaneously across London.

We had our Christmas wreath stolen off our front door once. MIL made it for us and it was unique and very distinctive. Walking back from work a few days later, I saw it proudly displayed on another front door two streets away, complete with snipped ribbon that matched the piece left behind at ours, so there was NO doubt. I took it back.

Ours was really bizarre. About 30 years ago my husband had been on a course and arrived home late at night. He didn’t bother unloading the car and went straight to bed. Next morning he went to get his bags from the car and discovered they were gone. He hadn’t locked the car. We were in the middle of reporting theft and rescheduling plans, when there was a knock on the door.

A neighbour stood there with his two bags. They had found them in the middle of the huge bonfire they had been building. It was Guy Fawkes night that day. They thought it might be his as they saw an army beret in the bag.

There was nothing stolen, the thief had merely decided to move my husbands bags from our car and take them over the road so they could be burnt the next night. Idiot.

Once- we were at a rehearsal for DDs dance school- sort of village hall type place. ( I was a chaperone). We were all called in to a room at the front of the venue for a meeting and during this time some little shits came in through the windows and swiped about 8 handbags. I cancelled my cards straight away and someone thought to put a car over the entrance to the carpark as some people had their cars keys stolen. It was just cash they nicked. I paid for our locks to be changed as the house keys were in my handbag.

A few days later a farmer nearby was clearing out a ditch and found a load of stuff that the little shits had discarded including my house keys.

It was a real shock. Nice neighbourhood where this happened. Last thing we would have expected. They must have been watching to know when the room at the back was clear.

My wages. Used to caravan clean and the woman I cleaned with told the company I'd given her permission to collect my wages at the same time as hers. I didn't! I didn't even know until I'd gone the 15 miles to where it was to pick them up. They were next to fucking useless. Just kept saying once it leaves here it's not our problem. Told them there and then to shove their shitty job up their arses. Rang the person who'd got my wages and her excuse was her car had broken down somewhere miles aways and my wages were in there but if I gave her £80 for a taxi she'd go and get them for me. Asked if she was having a laugh and said I'd involve the Police. They weren't bothered either so In the end I just cut my losses.

Oh god yeah I've had wages stolen too but by bosses not paying full final wage. And ofc landlords stiffing me for deposits back before you had to put them in a scheme. Actually I lost much more via that kind of fuckery over the years than via the lowlife crim kind. Also lost a fucking pension when the firm went bust. Thousands gone with that.

3 times

Once a car broken into as a young child and some clothes including my favourite jeans with rainbows on them were taken. Was upset but mum said well they obviously needed them more than you and that’s stuck with me.

Second a tent robbery at a festival - stolen iPod which ironically I had found in the back of a cab 6 months earlier. That one was karma.

Third student house robbery. Broke through a window next to my desktop iMac and stole the tv and bfs PlayStation. That one I considered myself SUPER lucky as I had no back up of my work and was nearing end of year. Their was also a Leica sitting on the shelf with a set of lens worth 10s of £1000 which we hadn’t listed on insurance as usually were kept at parents. Thankfully they were crackheads without a knowledge of cameras. Lucky Lucky Lucky 🍀

My purse was stolen from my bag, left on a coat hook at one of my first jobs (by "customer" who got in somehow, not a colleague). I've also had bits borrowed and not returned, but nothing major.

DH has had loads of stuff disappear, within the last year there's been a fancy camera from boot of car, though I'm not 100% he didn't lose it, a bike and some tools from his work van. He's quite absent minded so it's either getting lost or he forgetting to keep stuff locked.

And yes I do know they were crackheads because I saw them return a week later and met them in the garden when smoking a cigarette. Scared the shit out of me!

Had a coat nicked from a pub when I was 18, shouldn’t have hung it up but noone else’s got nicked.

I once had £20 stolen by my ex’s cousin-took it from my purse when I didn’t have £20 to spare
it was my rent

my mother helped herself to bits like food,books and my jewellery
im now nc

my dd went through a stage where she’d help herself to money from the copper jar-I thought I was going mad
it ended when she stole £50 from me

We had our Christmas wreath stolen off our front door once. MIL made it for us and it was unique and very distinctive. Walking back from work a few days later, I saw it proudly displayed on another front door two streets away, complete with snipped ribbon that matched the piece left behind at ours, so there was NO doubt. I took it back.

Haha this reminded me of another one. Clubbing on a night out and my coat ticket must have slipped on the floor. Went to try to retrieve my jacket at the end of the night by explaining its description. Coat had already been taken. Went outside despairing at the loss of my gorgeous leather coat and rejoined my group; only to find my best mate twirling in a drunken stupor overjoyed at the new jacket she has acquired. 🤣

We once had the ladder from our rather high trampoline taken. Around the same time, a much lower trampoline two gardens over had a ladder appear which didn't seem to fit their trampoline. DH and I stole it back on our way home from the pub very late one night. It was the perfect fit for our trampoline. 🤔

We've also had a hula-hoop stolen from our garden by someone who was viewing the flat downstairs. Didn't get that one back and thankfully they didn't move in.

House burgled about 5 years ago, they took my entire jewellery drawer and turned the house upside down, but left all our tech etc. Most of my jewellery wasn't worth much, but my engagement ring was in there.

Had purse taken from my bag when Christmas shopping once.

The most petty one that I've never forgotten was when I was an F2 doctor (one rung up from most junior) and my registrar took my Diet Coke in the middle of a night shift. It had a sticker with my name on it so he couldn't claim ignorance! But when it's 3am and you're in desperate need of hydration/energy boost, that's hard to forgive.

Had a video player stolen from
Home back in the 80s by a known theif who had been in the house earlier and opened a kitchen window so he could come back once we went out.

Had my car broken into similar time. They went through all my music tapes and left me a couple of more modern ones. Didn't steal anything. Obviously didn't like my choice of music.

After I finished things with my last boyfriend (after 5 years together, and having known him 25 years) I found that a back door key, a pair of gold earrings and a silver bracelet had 'walked'.

Really depressing.

I've been pickpocketed 2 or 3 times. Once on public transport in Madrid on our way to airport, once in Walthamstow market when they took my wallet; another time I left a card somewhere and someone used it (before chip and pin) but the spending pattern was so obviously not me that the bank phoned me up to check the spends and blocked/refunded - it was a card I only ever use a couple of times a month, so when someone started using it 5 times in a day they twigged.

14 year old had their first experience last week and it caused all sort of kerfuffle. They thought maybe it had just fallen out but it was in a total pickpocketing blackspot, so I can't believe it just fell. That said, nothing was taken from either card (as well, as for some reason they were carrying the card for a savings account with lots of gifted money) which surprised me, as in all the confusion - they, and I in turn, misremembered what bank that card was with - it was about 2 hours until I could block it. My experience is usually that thieves spend ASAP because they know the card will be locked at any minute.

Interesting to read all of your stories and awful experiences some of you have had 🙁

I don’t know how I forgot but I actually stole myself from a shop when I was 10🙁 I did it twice, once when I was caught and handed it back and once I wasn’t and somehow got rid of the evidence (it was a £1.99 scrunchie but not the point) so I don’t even know why I did it as I didn’t keep it. You’d never have me down as a thief if you met me and 30 years later I’ve buried it away as I feel ashamed whenever I think about it.

My bike from our front garden when I was 15, it was chained to a downpipe but they cut the chain.
My precious levis from a drying rack in the laundry room when I was a student.
And all our possessions from our car on our wedding night. We spent the night in a hotel in the midlands en route to Scotland, parked our little mini among much newer, smarter cars and just took a little overnight bag inside.
The next morning we found the lock had been forced and everything, clothes, shoes, wedding presents, some still in their wrappings, had gone.
I

When I was little the gypsies would pass through our home once each year, and everything was taken. Washing from the lines, our bikes, anything left in a car, even firewood.

It was awful, we could not afford much, but anything in our garden and everyone else’s just went.

In London I arrived home to find my apartment had been emptied 🙊

In London my locker at work was broken into, everything taken

In London I had a regular burglary at another apartment in that only more valuable possessions were taken.

In London a gang tried to pickpocket me but I fought back and kept my purse

In London a child tried to pickpocket me in a supermarket, her mother was nearby coaching her, but I caught her.

In London I put my sunglasses down beside me on the bench at the outdoor bar at the National Theatre and they were swiped.

In no other country have I been robbed or burgled but my car has been broken into twice and I’ve had license plates stolen while parked at a mall.

Had 2 bikes nicked in about 1990. Since then nothing at all!

I have had four purses stolen. One in Dublin. One in Leeds. Two in Belfast.

Our apartment was broken into on holiday in Majorca (long time ago) and our travellers cheques were stolen, all my (new) clothes and several full bottles of spirits and liqueurs we had just bought that day. They didn't take DP's crappy clothes though🤣 In fact I spent the rest of the holiday with my arse crammed rather unbecomingly into a pair of his shorts.

Someone stole my pram and my favourite teddy when I was a baby.
My Mum left me asleep in the pram outside the shops as you did in those days and when she came back I was on the floor on my blanket and my pram and teddy were gone!

Someone stole £20 out of my coat pocket when I was working in a factory the summer after I left school.

The same summer someone stole all my underwear from the washing line. I suspected the neighbours creepy adult son, he used to find excuses to come round when my parents were out and follow me to the shop or the bus stop.

Our camera got pinched out of DH's car, when we were unloading it after a holiday.

Someone used to regularly take a pint of our milk which at first I wasn't too bothered about because I thought maybe they were desperate but then I started seeing smashed bottles of milk or ones with maybe a mouthful missing down the road so I bought a lock up thing for it.

Loads of things - my handbag twice when I’ve been out in central London; car window smashed and handbag taken again from the footwell when I was literally dropping dd at dance class; bike stolen twice; car stolen but found by the council; parking permit stolen from the car on a separate occasion.